THE  ROBERT  E.  COWflN  COLLECTION 


I'KKSKNTKD    TO    Till'. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

BY 

C.  P.  HUNTINGTON 

cJUNE,  1897. 
/\y  y 

Accessiori  No, 


WOMAN'S 


MANIFEST  DESTINY 


DIVINE    MISSION. 


• 


WOMAN'S  MANIFEST  DESTINY 


AND 


DIVINE  MISSION 


IN   FOUR   PARTS. 


PART  I. — WOMAN  BEFORE  CHRIST. 

PART  II. — WOMAN  AFTER  CHRIST. 

PART  III — WOMAN  IN  THE  TRANSITIONAL  PERIOD. 

PART  IV. — THE  NEW  DISPENSATION. 


ELIZABETH    HUGHES. 


OF  THB 

UNIVERSITY 
*2Lc>JLIFdttH\L 
SAN  FRANCISCO: 

RICHARDSON    BROTHERS,  215   DUPONT  STREET. 
1884- 


Copyright  1884, 
BY  ELIZABETH  HUGHES. 

74-6 


WOMAN'S    MANIFEST    DESTINY 


-AND- 


DIVINE    MISSION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

WOMAN  BEFORE  CHRIST. 

This  is  so  wide  a  subject,  that  what  I  can  say  upon  it  will 
be  hardly  more  than  suggestive. 

Let  us  go  back  to  those  times  of  which  faint  traditions  are 
preserved  in  so  many  nations.  They  are  the  traditions  of  the 
Eden  Age,  the  Golden  Age.. 

Genesis  shows  us  man  Jiving  on  fruits  amid  the  garden- 
ized  earth.  Woman,  free  and  happy,  is  by  his  side.  In 
their  perfect  love  there  was  no  fear.  Fear  and  subjection 
came  afterwards.  Eve  is  nude  and  smiling,  without  sin  and 
without  shame.  Adam,  joyous  as  a  child,  tends  and  prunes 
the  trees  that  are  good  for  food,  which  in  alternate  seasons 
offer  a  rich  repast.  Fragrance  and  bloom  encircle  their 
days  and  nights,  there  is  no  chill  and  no  frost.  The 
exquisite  harmony  of  the  human  frame  vibrated  in  sweet 
accord  to  all  stellar  and  terrestrial  influences.  No  disease 
or  discomfort  had  entered  the  physical  system,  the  pure 
blood  flushed  the  cheeks,  the  rosy  limb  was  perfect 
in  grace  and  suppleness  of  motion.  The  gentle  animals 
responded  to  man's  gentleness;  the  dark  pleading  eye  of  the 
deer  had  never  been  startled  by  savage  pursuit;  the  birds 
did  not  fly  away,  but  welcomed  the  Eden  race  with  songs 
and  even  caresses  to  their  inmost  coverts.  The  souls  of  this 
race  were  as  exquisitely  attuned  to  spiritual  laws  as  their 
bodies  were  to  the  sweet  harmonies  and  natural  joyous  life 


[4] 

of  earth.  They  were  obedient  children  of  the  Father,— 
souls  which  perchance  before  their  appearance  in  mortality 
had  known  and  kept  the  Father's  laws. 

Some  of  the  wise  men  of  the  west  say  that  man  is  the 
culmination  of  and  latest  development  of  an  ape.  There 
may  be  races,  or  even  individuals  of  all  races,  of  whom  this 
may  be  said,  or  at  least  suspected.  The  Eden  race  does  not 
answer  to  this  type. 

In  whatever  way  plastic  matter  was  molded,  it  fitted  the 
needs  of  pure  spirits.  The  Elohim  said :  Let  us  make  man 
in  our  own  image  (plural),  male  and  female  created  he  them. 
Eve  is  said  to  emerge  from  her  husband's  side,  symbolic  of 
their  deep  interior  union, — bone  of  his  bone,  flesh  of  his 
flesh, — twain  in  form  as  made  visible  in  mortality,  but  one 
in  spirit.  It  was  the  union  of  the  Infinite  with  flesh,  for  a 
specific  and  determined  purpose.  They  were  one  in  divine 
essence,  even  as  those  who  are  sanctified  are  one  with  our 
Lord  and  Savior,  Jesus  Christ;  heaven  was  around  them, 
they  came  fresh  from  immortality. 

Woman  then  walked  side  by  side  with  man,  without  sub- 
jection and  without  fear.  They  had  simple  love  and  confi- 
dence in  the  powers  above,  whose  they  were.  There  was  no 
need  of  rite  or  ritual.  Angelic  beings  walked  and  talked 
with  man, — and  there  has  remained  in  the  hearts  of  all 
peoples  a  longing  for  and  dim  remembrance  of  that  far-off 
time. 

I  find  no  cause  for  my  infinite  desires  and  prophetic  aspir- 
ations, within  the  breast  of  particled  matter.  I  am  belittled 
and  confounded  and  indignant,  when  I  hear  ape-hood  claimed 
as  my  origin.  Can  the  fountain  rise  higher  than  the  source? 
Let  those  who  claim  an  apish  origin  content  themselves 
with  their  ancestry,  and  make  the  best  of  it.  I  do  not  admit 
it  for  myself.  As  a  child  of  Seth,  I  am  a  descendant  of  the 
Eden  race,  and  preserve  their  traditions.  My  little  fountain 
does  not  rise  so  high  as  its  source,  but  it  aspires  towards  it. 
I  am  of  noble  birth,  and  of  the  highest  ancestry.  I  claim 
my  title,  arid  will  wear  it,  because  the  cry  has  been  put  into 
my  soul,  Abba,  Father. 


[5] 

After  the  terrible  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  under  Titus, 
a  Jew,  named  Simeon  ben  Jochai,  compiled  a  book  of  the 
most  ancient  sacred  traditions  of  his  people.  It  was  called 
the  Kabbala,  from  this  is  derived  our  English  word  Cabal- 
istic, which  signifies  occult  or  hidden.  He  lived  a  very 
recluse  life,  and  had  many  devoted  disciples.  His  sepulchre 
is  in  Meiron,  in  Palestine,  even  to  this  day.  Not  more  than 
two  years  ago  a  curious  traveler  visited  it,  and  found  two 
Jews  living  in  the  adjoining  chambers.  They  had  lived 
there  for  many  years,  and  it  was  thought  that  a  peculiar 
sanctity  was  attached  to  the  place.  By  means  of  this  com- 
pilation many  things  were  preserved  that  would  otherwise 
have  been  lost  in  the  dispersion.  This  work  has  been  greatly 
prized  by  many  in  all  ages,  and  has  had  thousands  of  devoted 
students. 

The  Kabbala  says  that  the  world  was  formed  from  the 
union  of  the  crowned  king  and  queen,  emanations  from  En 
Soph,  "The  Boundless  One." 

Another  ancient  Jewish  book,  the  Sohar,  says:  "The  agi- 
tation and  upheaving  which  is  life  and  motion,  is  the  mani- 
festation of  God.  Many  worlds  perished  before  they  came 
into  existence.  They  were  only  like  sparks,  because  the 
sacred  aged,  or  the  ancient  of  days,  had  not  yet  assumed  his 
form  of  opposite  sexes,  and  the  master  was  not  at  his  work; 
but  since  then  nothing  can  be  annihilated." 

It  is  also  stated  that  souls  are  pre-existent,  and  exist  in 
what  is  called  the  World  of  Emanations,  before  being 
clothed  in  flesh.  Our  Lord,  in  one  place,  speaks  of  the 
glory  which  He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  worlds  were 
made ;  and  I  humbly  acknowledge  that  on  this  point  also  I 
strive  to  cleave  to  him,  albeit  dazzled  by  excess  of  light. 

It  is  stated,  also,  that  in  this  world  of  emanations,  souls 
are  androgenous, — that  is,  male  and  female  in  one, — imply- 
ing the  closeness  of  the  union.  They  are  almost  always 
separated  in  mortality,  and  going  through  the  vicissitudes, 
trials  and  experiences  attendant  upon  mortal  life,  are  some- 
times unmated,  sometimes  wrongly  mated.  Our  Lord  says 
in  the  17th  of  John,  "Thine  they  were,  and  Thou  gavest 


[   6  ] 

them  to  me,  and  they  have  kept  Thy  word."  These  souls, 
however,  disjoined  on  earth,  tremble  to  the  infinite  source 
of  life,  the  treasure  house  of  the  Father,  where  they  are 
wrapped  in  the  luminous  garment,  find  all  that  belongs 
to  them,  and  rise  to  the  perfection  of  perfect  manhood 
and  womanhood, — neither  male  nor  female, — but  a  new 
creature. 

The  idea  of  the  blending  of  two  souls  in  one  being  is 
illustrated  by  Balzac,  in  his  strange  romance  of  Seraphita. 
I  prefer,  however,  to  think  of  them  as  separate  beings  with  a 
perfect  oneness. 

The  idea  of  the  restoration  of  the  fitting  elements  to  each 
other  is  the  dominant  note  of  all  romance  and  poetry.  Every- 
where, in  novels  and  in  song,  it  is  the  wail  of  kindred  souls 
being  separated  from  each  other,  the  incidents  of  their  ex- 
periences or  the  joy  of  their  re-union.  The  ancient  tradition 
only  records  a  prophecy  of  the  heart,  which  must  somewhere 
have  its  fulfilment. 

The  Kabbala  says:  Adam  and  Eve  were  wrapped  in  that 
ethereal  substance  which  is  not  subject  to  want,  nor  to  sen- 
sual desires.  It  also  says:  He  (that  is  man  and  woman) 
is  the  presence  of  God  upon  the  earth.  Transgression  has 
shorn  us  of  our  splendor,  but  infinite  love  can  still  radiate 
through  us,  if  we  open  our  doors  to  its  rays.  It  makes  even 
our  ruins  beautiful,  and  we  become  the  presence  of  God  on 
earth  in  a  living  temple.  This  radiance  is  not  from  us,  but 
through  us.  This,  in  its  complete  state,  will  ultimate  in  the 
restoration  of  all  things,  even  of  our  ruins.  This  will  be  Par- 
adise regained. 

It  is  very  important  in  these  last  days  to  consider  the 
manifestation  of  the  feminine  in  Deity,  and  in  Humanity, 
for  as  a  man's  God  is,  or  as  his  idea  of  God  is,  so  is  he,  and 
as  a  woman's  God  is  so  is  she. 

The  feminine  is  being  more  and  more  revealed.  Isis  is 
raising  her  veil.  As  women,  we  ought  to  feel  deeply  pene- 
trated with  the  importance,  beauty,  wonder  and  mystery  of 
womanhood.  I  do  not  believe,  as  the  poor  Chinese  woman 
has  been  taught  to  believe,  that  if  she  is  good  in  the  state  to 
which  she  has  been  called,  she  will  after  a  succession  of  lives 


[  7  1 

in  different  forms,  be  changed  into  a  man.  I  believe  and 
glory  in  my  womanhood,  my  distinctive,  divine  womanhood, 
in  which  I  represent  that  part  of  the  Elohim  in  whose  like- 
ness I  was  made.  It  is  true  that  an  eclipse  has  come,  a 
deep,  dark  shadow  has  fallen,  and  woman  has  been  in  the 
deepest  depths  of  that  shadow.  She  has  been  a  mystery  to 
herself,  and  to  man,  often  a  very  troublesome,  perplexing 
mystery,  and  never  more  so  than  now,  when  she  is  begin- 
ning to  recognize  in  herself  powers  that  not  many  years  ago 
would  have  seemed  fabulous.  We  are  feeling  our  way  through 
a  labyrinth,  in  which  we  can  only  be  guided  by  a  divine 
thread.  Oh,  do  not  let  us  lose  it,  for  if  we  do  sad  disaster 
may  await  us. 

We  will  now  consider  what  the  tree  of  life  was,  and  how 
we  lost  Eden. 

The  tree  of  life  in  the  old  Norse  traditions  was  called 
Ygdrasil ;  it  budded  forth  in  countless  generations. 

In  the  Kabbala,  the  tree  of  life  is  pictured  in  the  human 
form,  and  the  creative  organs  are  pictured  as  the  foundation 
of  life.  The  full  recipiency  of  life  in  every  portion  of  the 
frame  into  the  Eden  race  sanctified  it  for  celestial  uses  and 
inflowed  in  it  the  health  and  happiness  of  immortality. 
Man  was  Wholeness  or  Holiness,  woman  was  Wholeness  or 
Holiness  in  every  department  of  being. 

The  traditions  of  the  Eden  race  commanded  purity.  The 
pure  in  heart  shall  see  God.  It  forbade  intercourse  with 
another  race  which  already  inhabited  the  earth,  with  all  the 
stringency  with  which  the  Jews  were  forbidden  to  associate 
with  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine.  When  Cain,  who  was  of 
that  wicked  one,  fled  to  the  land  of  Nod,  he  fled  to  the 
habitations  of  a  people  living  on  the  earth  at  that  time,  but 
totally  distinct  from  the  inhabitants  of  Eden.  He  be- 
longed to  them,  he  was  of  them,  by  the  father's  side. 

The  vanity,  weakness,  and  wilfulness  of  Edenic  woman 
was  tempted,  and  she  fell.  She  in  her  turn  became  the 
tempter,  and  the  ruin  was  complete.  The  race  which  was 
to  be  representative  of  the  presence  of  God  on  earth  failed; 
they  transgressed;  the  wilful  desires  of  the  flesh  prevailed 
against  the  spirit,  and  the  fruit  was  death. 

^      V-' 

Of 


[8  1 

From  this  the  sad  story  of  our  human  experience,  the  evil 
and  the  good,  the  sweet  and  the  bitter,  that  fill  every  mor- 
tal life.  Ye  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil.  The 
access  to  the  tree  of  life  that  grew  in  Paradise  was  closed; 
there  could  be  no  more  access  to  that  tree  till  Paradise  was 
regained  by  the  work  of  Christ  through  sanctification. 

What  was  the  first  consequence  of  the  Eden  failure  ?  The 
subjection  of  woman — the  natural  consequence  of  such  a 
course.  Thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall 
rule  over  thee — emphasized  sometimes  by  another  perver- 
sion— thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  wife,  and  she  shall  reign 
over  thee, — both  conditions  consequent  on  a  fall  from  the 
Eden  state,  with  all  its  love  and  purity.  War  and  blood- 
shed followed  in  the  train.  Everywhere  I  saw,  as  Tennyson 
says, 

' '  Beauty  and  anguish  walking  hand  in  hand 
The  downward  slope  to  death." 

The  animal  race  has  never  perverted  the  creative  instinct 
as  the  human  race  has.  A  diabolic  force  has  evidently 
assailed  the  fountain  of  life,  the  Tree  of  Life  in  the  midst 
of  the  Paradise  of  God, — witness  the  monstrous  sin  of 
Sodom,  the  terrible  hospitals  that  show  the  ravages  of 
deadly,  incurable  sexual  disease;  the  pitiful  form  of  the 
leper  in  his  enforced  isolation;  the  poison  that  in  one  shape 
or  other  taints  the  life  current  of  humanity,  and  then  ask  the 
mocking  tempter  where  is  the  fulfilment  of  his  promise— 
thou  shalt  not  surely  die. 

Much  has  been  said  lately  with  regard  to  the  laws  of  he- 
redity, the  supreme  importance  to  be  attached  to  good 
parentage.  O,  how  vital  it  is!  How  tenderly  to  be  guarded 
are  the  remains  of  that  good,  and  truth,  and  purity  that  the 
Eden  race  once  enjoyed  in  their  plentitude.  Woman  was 
not  subject  to  man  then.  She  was  free  as  the  breeze  that 
played  around  the  slopes  of  Eden. 

What  is  our  outlook  to-day?  We  who  are  descendants  of 
the  Eden  race  in  a  direct  line  from  Seth.  Is  it  not  the  old 
story  of  the  flesh  lusting  against  the  spirit  ?  Is  not  the  earth 
filled  with  violence  as  it  was  in  Noah  time  ?  And  from  the  same 


[9   I 

causes :  unmitigated  selfishness,  riotous  living  and  unblessed 
and  discordant  unions?  fs  there  any  issue  for  us  but  in  dire 
defeat  and  catastrophe  with  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  and 
may  it  not  be  time  that  we  thought  about  building  some  ark 
that  will  ride  the  incoming  angry  waves  ? 

Let  us  look  into  the  times  before  the  flood,  when  earth 
was  younger  and  stronger  than  she  is  to-day,  and  nourished 
a  giant  brood. 

The  sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters  of  men  that  they  were 
fair,  and  took  them  wives  of  all  whom  they  chose  in  the  passion 
of  supreme  wilfulness.  God  made  and  blessed  the  nuptials 
of  the  Eden  race,  and  all  the  sons  of  the  morning  sang  for 
joy;  but  from  these  unblessed  unions  Titans  sprung, — 
mighty  men,  men  of  renown,  warriors,  wonderful  inventors. 
Tubal  Cain  and  his  tribe  molded  brass  and  iron.  They  had 
the  strange  and  wonderful  secrets  of  lost  arts.  Jubal  and 
his  tuneful  tribe  poured  out  entrancing  music;  there  was  a 
gay  time  of  feasting  and  carousing;  beautiful  women  wore 
their  scarlet  letter  bravely,  and  gloried  in  it.  "  Was  there 
ever  such  an  age  as  ours,"  they  said,  "such  inventions,  such 
progress?"  But  the  earth  was  filled  with  lust  and  violence, 
till  the  very  elemental  forces  could  no  longer  bear  the  dis- 
orders, for  the  conditions  of  man  to  a  greater  extent  than  is 
generally  supposed,  affect  the  planet  on  which  he  lives. 

So  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  broken  up  and 
Atlantis  was  overwhelmed,  leaving  a  remembrance  only  in 
dim  tradition  and  in  the  gigantic  records  of  the  eternal 
hills.  The  destruction  of  an  influential  portion  of  the  earth's 
race  was  achieved,  and  from  the  survival  of  the  children  of 
Seth  came  our  Europe  to-day — our  dominant,  English-speak- 
ing race,  the  children  of  Japheth — the  religious  culture  of 
Shem,  and  the  enduring  streitgth  of  Ham. 

Woman,  during  the  time  before  Christ,  was  sometimes  a 
drudge,  sometimes  an  article  of  sale  and  barter,  some- 
times a  priestess  or  prophetess,  sometimes  the  syren  of  an 
orgie. 

An  oasis  sometimes  intervenes  where  a  descent  of  brighter 
influences  seem  to  fleck  the  cloud  with  splendor, — the  hon- 
ored maids  and  matrons  of  Rome's  earlier  day,  when  life 


t    10    I 

was  so  noble,  so  sweet  and  simple,  the  beauty  and  culture 
of  Greece,  the  grand  spiritualty  of  the  Hebrew  race. 
Always  where  light  begins  to  break,  to  some  extent, 
woman  stands  side  by  side  with  man,  as  she  did  in  Eden. 

Slowly  along  the  ages  walks  the  silent  foot  of  woman, 
with  downcast  eyes,  as  if  ashamed  of  herself;  only  some- 
times looking  upward  with  a  prophetic  gaze  of  far-off 
hopes: — burden  bearers,  carriers  of  water,  palace  lilies, 
drudges  of  the  drudge,  slaves  of  the  peasant,  and  last  of  all, 
the  women  of  to-day,  refusing  to  be  mothers  in  a  dying- out 
era,  in  which  little  faith  is  left  on  the  earth. 

It  may  help  us  to  understand  the  position  of  woman  dur- 
ing this  period,  to  take  some  individual  cases,  land-marks 
of  the  past,  women  who  have  so  attracted  the  thoughts  and 
hopes  of  the  world,  that  their  names  are  ever  more  remem- 
bered either  for  good  or  evil. 

The  first  woman  of  whom  we  have  any  record  after 
the  flood  was  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Zerah,  in  a  direct 
line  from  Shem,  dwelling  with  her  kindred  in  Chaldea. 
Zerah  started  to  go  to  Canaan  at  an  early  date  in  his 
history,  but  did  not  get  more  than  part  of  the  way. 
He  made  a  settlement  where  he  found  wood,  water  and  pas- 
ture, and  called  the  place  Haran,  after  his  dead  son.  From 
this  place  Abram  and  Sarah  started  on  their  final  journey  to 
Canaan.  Much  is  said  of  the  great  and  extraordinary  beauty 
of  Sarah.  This  was  her  inheritance  from  the  Eden  race. 
She  was  a  fair  woman,  tenderly  reared  in  all  the  simple 
luxury  of  a  patriarch's  tent,  a  free  child  of  the  plains. 
When  they  were  about  to  go  down  into  Egypt,  Abram  did 
not  say  to  her,  Thou  shalt  not  go  forth,  and  I  will  set  guards 
about  thee,  as  the  Turk  to-day  does  with  his  women.  But 
he  says,  ' '  I  pray  thee  say  that  thou  art  my  sister,  that  my  soul 
may  live  because  of  thee." 

Sarah  was  not  hidden,  nor  was  she  veiled,  and  the 
Egyptians  saw  her,  and  she  was  taken  into  the  king's 
household.  Abram  had  brought  this  about  by  the  very 
means  he  had  taken  to  prevent  it.  Twice  did  this  happen, 
once  in  Egypt,  and  once  in  Gerar,  but  she  was  delivered. 
After  the  victory  of  Abram  over  the  five  kings  a  wonderful 


[  II  ] 

vision  is  given  to  him.     In  the  horror  of  great  darkness, 
emblematic  of  Egyptian  slavery,  he  sees  the  lamp  and  the  fur- 
nace, the  light  of  divine  strength  and  truth,  pass   between 
the  slaughtered  sacrifices.     And  the  promises  given  in  the 
tent  at  Mam  re  are  reiterated  to  him, — of  the  child  to  be 
borD  to  Sarah,  of  the  numerous  posterity,  and  the  land  in 
everlasting  possession.     But  Sarah  is  growing  old,  all  natu- 
ral possibility  of  motherhood   is   at  end — and   there  is  no 
child   in  the  tent.     Abram,  discouraged,    pleads   with  the 
heavenly  powers,  who  have  manifested  themselves  by  visible 
messengers,  and  he  says,   "Lo  one  born  in  my  house  is  mine 
heir,  even  this  Eleazar  of  Damascus."     And  Sarah,  wholly 
doubting  of  her  delayed   maternity,  gives  her  maid  Hagar 
to  Abram.      At  the  prospect  of  motherhood,  exultation  fills 
the  heart  of  the  Egyptian,  for  she,  too,  knows  of  the  prom- 
ises; the  sickness  of  hope  deferred  fills  the  soul  of  Sarah, 
and  manifests  itself  in  such  bitterness  that  the  Egyptian 
flees.     But  the  Lord  sends  her  back  with  kind  and  beautiful 
promises.     She,  too,  is  to  be  a  mother  of  nations,  but  she 
must  return  to  her  mistress,  Sarah,  and  tame  her  proud 
heart  to  fill  a  subordinate  place  in  the  household.     And  she 
returns,  and  Ishmael  is  born  beneath  the  tents  of  Abram. 
The  old  man  loves  his  son — 'his  only  son — and  he  earnestly 
prays,   and  says,  Oh,  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee. 
The  vision  again  appears,  the  promises  are  again  repeated; 
his  name  is  changed  from  Abram  to  Abraham — signifying 
father  of  a  great  multitude;  and  for  the  first  time  a  covenant 
is  spoken  of,  which  shall  bind  him  and  all  his  generations 
to  the  living  God  forever.     That  covenant  is  the  sign  of  cir- 
cumcision,  and  it  is  declared  that  who  so  doth  not  observe 
this  covenant  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people.     This  rite 
represents  the  cleansing   that  must  be  undergone  previous 
to  the  entrance  into  the  heavenly  kingdom,  the  putting  off 
the  old  man,  the  subjection  of  the  flesh  to  the  spirit.     This 
covenant,  four  thousand  years  old,  is  in  force  to  the  present 
day.     By  it    the   hills   and   valleys    of   Palestine   are    still 
pledged  to  the  race  of  Abraham.      If  he  has  kept  his  cove- 
nant, God  will  keep  his.    Jerusalem  is  still  the  Jewish  heart 
home  —  from    England's    great    statesman  to   the  smallest 


f  «  1 

trader  in  any  land.  The  scattered  people  are  known  every- 
where— you  cannot  mistake  them.  They  are  rich,  prosper- 
ous, and  waiting  still.  The  vision  is  for  an  appointd  time,— 
though  it  tarry,  it  will  come.  In  the  meantime  Babylon  is 
a  heap, — and  oppressed  and  denationalized  fellaheen  are  all 
that  remain  of  the  once  proud  Egyptian  race. 

After  the  solemn  day  of  the  circumcision,  Sodom  was  de- 
stroyed, and  fifteen  years  later  Isaac  is  born.  For  thirteen 
years  has  Sarah  had  to  watch  the  growth  of  Ishmael,  ere  her 
arms  are  clasped  around  Isaac,  and  she  nurses  him  at  her 
bosom;  but,  oh,  the  long  weary  waiting  time !  I  seem  to  see  her 
with  sad  brows  and  half-veiled  lids,  watching  the  beauty  and 
strength  of  Ishmael,  and  the  stately  step  of  Hagar,  in  whom 
slavery  cannot  veil  the  pride  of  maternity.  She  sees  her 
slave's  eyes  seeking  the  lithe  form  of  Ishmael  in  his  games 
of  mimic  war — Abraham's  child,  born  at  her  own  request. 
Perhaps  she  regrets  the  doubting  heart  that  prompted  a 
wish  for  the  child.  I  wonder  if  the  deep  longing  for  children 
on  the  part  of  Jewish  womanhood  is  not  an  inheritance  from 
their  beautiful  ancestress.  But  she  holds  him  at  last,  the 
promised  child,  and  in  her  exultation  she  says :  who  would 
have  said  to  Abraham  that  Sarah  should  have  given  children 
suck.  Did  she  not  remember  the  promise  in  the  tent  at 
Mamre,  and  her  laughing  response?  Years  pass  and  now 
she  hears  "  the  flow  of  the  wondrous  stream  that  rolls  by  the 
border  land  of  souls."  Dear  eyes  watch  her  as  she  recedes 
in  space. 

I  have  often  wondered  at  the  great  space  Sarah  occupies 
in  Bible  Historj'.  A  whole  chapter,  the  twenty-eighth 
Genesis,  is  devoted  to  the  account  of  her  death  and  burial. 
She  was  royally  entombed.  The  very  choice  of  the  sepulchres 
of  the  people  of  the  land  where  she  sojourned  were  offered 
to  Abraham  to  bury  his  dead,  but  no  other  place  could  be 
found  except  the  cave  near  the  oaks  of  Mamre,  perchance 
within  view  of  the  very  spot  where,  sitting  at  the  tent-door 
in  the  heat  of  the  day,  Abraham  and  Sarah  received  and 
hospitably  entertained  the  messenger  who  brought  the 
promise  of  the  birth  of  Isaac. 

Isaac  grows,  a  child  of  fruition,  a  child  of  peace;    as  a 


[   13] 

young  man  meditative  and  quiet.  He  goes  forth  into  the 
field  to  meditate  at  eventide.  The  Lord  brings  him  a  young 
and  beautiful  bride,  and  he  is  comforted  after  his  mother 
Sarah's  death;  and  brings  his  wife  into  his  mother's  tent. 
Life  flowed  for  Isaac  in  a  smooth,  bright  current.  Isaac  and 
Rebecca.lived  in  Mamre,  that  was  afterwards  called  Hebron. 
They  were  not  wanderers,  but  possessors  and  inheritors. 
The  peace  of  patriarchal  times  flowed  round  Rebecca — be- 
loved by  Isaac,  as  Sarah  was  beloved  by  Abraham.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  great  love  element  in  patriarchal  na- 
tures, which  harmonizes  and  solemnizes  their  domestic  rela- 
tions. Abraham  sought  no  other  ties  in  Sarah's  lifetime. 
He  accepted  Hagar  at  her  request.  Isaac  sought  none. 
Jacob  had  polygamy  thrust  upon  him  by  a  trick;  he  did  not 
seek  it;  then  he  took  the  maids  at  the  request  of  his  wives. 
Abundance,  beauty,  the  rearing  and  bearing  of  children  be- 
longed to  the  patriarchal  age.  The  source  of  the  genera- 
tions of  Israel  was  in  the  eternal  hills,  nor  could  it  begin  to 
flow  until  smitten  by  the  hand  of  God,  and  the  dry  rod  of 
Sarah  blossomed  with  the  bud  of  Isaac. 

The  horror  of  a  great  darkness  has  fallen  on  Israel,  as 
foretold  to  Abraham,  four  hundred  years  of  Egyptian  slavery. 
The  next  woman  that  comes  upon  the  scene  is  the  heroine 
of  a  successful  revolt,  an  ambitious,  impulsive,  and  inspired 
woman;  Miriam,  the  sister  of  Moses.  Tried  and  disciplined 
by  the  hardships  of  her  slave  life  in  Egypt,  she  has  yet  some 
taint  of  the  old  slave  leaven  in  her  blood — the  inability  to 
submit  to  the  easy  yoke  of  the  rule  of  God  through  the  ap- 
pointed leader.  She  aspired  to  rule,  and  in  this  way  drew 
upon  herself  condign  punishment.  The  gleams  of  Eden,  up 
to  this  date,  linger  longest  on  the  head  of  man,  and  on  the 
head  of  that  noble  leader  who  was  so  slow  of  speech,  and 
yet  so  mighty  in  deed  and  in  power — most  of  all. 

We  will  now  follow  the  course  of  time  from  the  wilderness 
to  the  settled  possession  of  Canaan,  until  we  come  to  the 
woman  who  judged  Israel  under  her  palm  tree- -Deborah, 
the  wife  of  Lapidoth.  Caleb,  the  scout  and  spy  of  Joshua's 
time,  had  asked  for  Hebron,  the  Mamre  of  Abraham's  time, 
and  it  had  been  given  to  him.  After  his  death,  the  people 


i:  14  ] 

intermarried  with  the  heathen,  and  served  their  gods; — 
thence  Israel's  defeat  and  bondage,  redeemed  at  times  by 
different  leaders, — till,  at  last,  they  fell  very  low,  and  the 
Philistines  held  them  in  total  subjection,  and  even  dis- 
armed them.  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  comes  upon  Deborah, 
and  she  is  told  to  send  for  Barak.  He  comes,  am?  she  tells 
him  that  he  must  draw  toward  Mount  Tabor,  and  engage  in 
an  apparently  most  unequal  conflict  with  the  formidable 
army  of  Sisera,  which  was  supplied  with  chariots  and  mu- 
nitions of  war.  Knowing  that  the  Israelites  were  almost 
unarmed  and,  besides,  discouraged,  he  refuses  to  go  unless 
she  will  go  with  him.  She  consents.  Notwithstanding,  she 
says,  "What  thou  undertake  th  shall  not  be  for  thy  glory,  for 
the  Lord  shall  deliver  Sisera  into  the  hands  of  a  woman." 
They  met  the  foe  with  all  their  resources  at  their  command, 
and  the  word  comes  to  her,  ' '  This  day  hath  the  Lord  deliv- 
ered Sisera  into  thine  hand, — is  not  the  Lord  gone  down 
before  thee!" 

Together  they  go  down  into  the  battle;  together  they  sing 
the  song  of  deliverance.  "The  stars,"  she  says,  "fought 
against  the  oppressors  in  their  courses.  The  river  Kishon 
swept  them  away,  that  ancient  river,  the  river  Kishou." 
Then  raising  those  wonderful  Jewish  eyes  to  heaven,  I  think  I 
can  hear  her  exclaim,  "  Oh,  my  soul!  thou  hast  trodden  down 
strength ! "  It  reminds  one  of  another  inspired  song  of  an- 
other Jewish  woman,  Mary  of  Galillee,  who  ages  after  said, 
"  He  hath  put  down  the  mighty  from  their  seat,  and  hath 
exalted  the  humble  and  the  meek."  Fitting  song  of  rejoic- 
ing for  redeemed. woman.  Not  the  exulation  of  strength  and 
power,  as  in  conquering  Eoman  legions,  or  Macedonian 
phalanx,  or  storm  of  Sea  Kings.  All  that  was  the  power 
of  force,  to  exalt  the  might}7.  All  this  marvelous  power, 
and  strength  of  man's  energy  puts  the  mighty  in  their  seat, 
and  keeps  them  there.  But  this  mystic  and  mighty  power, 
so  closely  allied  with  the  divine,  exalts  the  humble  and' the 
meek  woman,  and  the  toiler,  the  little  children  and  all  who 
are  oppressed,  and  cry  out  to  God,  everywhere. 

This  woman,  mighty  only  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  sees 
the  enemy  go  down  before  her.  Though  there  may  be  con- 


[  '5  ] 

fused  shouting,  and  garments  rolled  in  blood,  she  lifts  no 
hand  to  destroy,  any  more  than  did  Joan  of  Arc,  ages  after, 
when  she  rode  her  white  horse,  and  bore  the  consecrated 
banner  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  He  hath  put  down  the 
mighty  from  their  seat.  Where,  but  in  the  line  of  inspira- 
tion and  obedience,  can  we  hope  for  the  restitution  of  woman 
to  her  Eden  place,  by  man's  side,  together  conquering  all 
the  power  of  the  enemy?  Israel  had  been  bewitched  by  the 
Baalim  and  the  Venus  Ashtoreth  of  the  Zidonians;  their 
manhood  was  lost.  The  inhabitants  of  the  villages  had 
ceased,  the  highways  been  unoccupied,  because,  through 
fear,  the  travelers  had  taken  by-ways.  Now  the  women 
were  delivered  from  the  noise  of  archers  in  the  places  of 
drawing  water,  and  the  land  was  at  rest.  The  spirit  of  re- 
volt against  oppression  had  come  to  woman  with  the 
spirit  of  prophecy,  and  it  had  succeeded.  I  linger  peace- 
fully and  restfully  in  the  shade  of  the  palm  trees  of  De- 
borah. I  think  that  she  found  home  and  rest  there,  after 
toil  and  struggle, — and  Israel,  rescued,  blest  and  at  peace, 
came  up  to  her  for  judgment. 

That  mighty  vision  passes.  What  do  we  next  see  ?  The 
beauty  of  a  soft  Zidonian  valley,  Delilah,  the  Philistine. 
The  soft,  frail,  laughing  thing,  takes  captive  the  heart  and 
senses  of  the  chosen  captain  of  Israel,  strong  Samson.  She 
has  him  at  her  beck.  He  loses  even  his  intelligence  and 
common  sense  in  her  caresses.  With  what  a  mocking  smile 
she  says,  "  The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson."  Does  she 
love  him?  She  loves  the  shining  gold  pieces  much  better. 
She  exists  in  sense,  lives  all  over  in  her  beautiful  body. 
She  is  of  that  order  of  the  daughters  of  men  who  have  always 
obstructed  the  path  of  the  sons  of  light. 

He  keeps  on  confiding  in  her,  as  if  to  challenge  any  hidden 
tenderness  she  may  have  for  him.  He  is  betrayed.  Then 
muttering,  "Oh,  fool!"  like  Vivien,  she  leaves  the  strong 
man  to  his  fate.  This  is  another  type  of  the  way  of  putting 
down  strength,  but  it  is  the  Devil's  way,  not  the  Lord's  way. 

After  that,  no  doubt,  Delilah  was  one  of  the  chiefest 
women  in  all  Philistia.  Ashtoreth  Venus  had  triumphed. 
She  might  have  been  at  the  festival  where  her  blind  lover 


f   16  1 

made  sport.  She  was  only  moved  to  laughter  by  that  sol- 
emn agony,  and  might  have  been  entombed  with  him  in  the 
temple ;  nay,  perhaps  the  very  sound  of  her  mocking  voice 
might  have  urged  him  on  to  the  attempt. 

Let  me  close  the  record  of  the  daughters  of  Israel  with 
the  tender  sweetness  of  Ruth, — entering,  though  an  alien 
by  birth,  into  the  very  house  of  David,  by  love  and  obedi- 
ence. Love  brought  her  to  Bethlehem,  and  obedience  finished 
the  work. 

Pass  we  now  to  another  land  bathed  by  the  waters  of  the 
Egean  Sea.  Greece,  the  land  of  art  and  song.  Once  it  was 
ruled  by  a  man  called  Pericles,  and  by  his  side  was  a 
woman  named  Aspasia.  Under  their  influence  Athens 
rose  to  its  highest  splendor.  The  Greek  women  of  her  time 
and  her  class  ruled  the  intellect  and  the  senses.  Art  at- 
tained its  highest  culmination  under  their  influence.  To- 
day every  statue  or  stone  unearthed  from  those  ruins  is  of 
priceless  value.  The  human  form  was  developed  among 
these  people  to  its  utmost  beauty  and  strength.  The  glori- 
ous marbles  that  they  have  left  us  are  eternally  young. 
Beauty  was  their  religion,  and  the  senses  were  deified.  But 
compassion  and  aspiration  seldom  looked  out  of  Grecian 
eyes.  When  a  spiritual  man  appeared,  who  had  grown  be- 
yond their  traditions  and  their  superficial  culture,  and 
dared  to  speak  as  he  was  inspired,  they  poisoned  him.  His 
name  was  Socrates.  What  comes  down  to  us  of  Aspasia  is 
the  glitter  and  beauty  of  her  person  and  intellect,  and  her 
friendship  for  the  ruler  Pericles.  She  was  bright,  while  she 
shone  with  a  cold  splendor,  in  the  heavens  of  Greece;  but 
when  she  disappeared,  she  left  no  long  line  of  warmth  and 
radiance  after,  as  did  Mary  of  Galilee.  4 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  old  historic  land  of  Egypt.  Its 
glories  are  drawing  to  a  close,  and  a  woman  rules  it.  She 
appears  in  the  declining  splendor  of  Egypt's  power,  in  the 
full-blown  ripeness  that  precedes  decay,  Possessing  the 
magical  charm  of  Egypt,  unbounded  in  will  and  luxury— 
the  serpent  of  old  Nile — she  conquered  the  Eoman  con- 
queror, not  with  munitions  of  war,  but  with  silken  sails, 
music,  perfumes  and  revels,  as  she  passed  down  the  Cydnus 


in  all  her  glory.  Her  name  was  Cleopatra.  The  poisonous 
fascination  of  that  name  ^endures  to-day.  That  gorgeous 
passion  flower  still  scents  the  air.  The  heavy,  sleepy  per- 
fume of  the  forbidden  tree,  overcoming  sense  and  even 
reason,  drawing  mankind  to  death  and  the  grave  through 
avenues  hung  with  blossoms  and  its  fruit,  which  whoso 
scents  becomes  mad.  She  leaves  him  at  Actium;  the  in- 
fatuated man  follows  her,  and  dies  by  his  own  hand.  She, 
too,  when  the  desperate  game  of  life  is  played,  and  she 
sees  that  all  is  lost,  takes  the  fatal  asp  from  the  basket  of  figs, 
invites  his  deadly  bite,  and  drowses  off  into  forgetfulness. 

Antony's  conqueror, — olive-crowned  Caesar  Augustus, — 
rules  the  world.  He  issues  his  famous  decree  for  the  taxing 
of  the  world,  and  from  a  little  town  in  the  conquered  prov- 
ince of  Judea  a  carpenter  and  his  wife  come  up  to  Bethle- 
hem to  be  taxed. 

In  a  very  short  space  we  have  tried  to  illustrate  some  of 
the  experiences  of  woman  up  to  this  date.  Her  weal  and 
her  woe,  her  bane  and  her  blessings,  in  the  generations  be- 
fore Christ.  We  have  traced  some  of  the  manipulations  of 
the  feminine  element  from  the  earliest  traditions  to  the  time 
immediately  preceding  the  advent  of  our  Lord  and  Savior, 
Jesus  Christ. 

We  see  from  these  experiences  the  immense  need  of  all 
the  purity,  consecration,  courage  and  devotedness  of  woman 
to  enable  her  to  find  her  way  back  to  her  first  estate, — being 
made  perfect  through  suffering.  We  see  that  power  comes 
whenever  woman  has  walked  with  God,  side  by  side  with 
man,  even  in  these  remote  ages.  It  is  but  a  short  space 
that  she  has  been  able  to  hold  her  own  in  the  flowing  cur- 
rent of  events  up  to  this  time, — but  that  even  one  such  man- 
ifestation should  have  occurred  is  itself  a  prophecy.  We 
have  also  seen  the  conditions  under  which  some  such  mani- 
festations have  been  made.  We  also  see  that  the  Eden  tra- 
ditions were  respected  through  the  long  line  of  Jewish  his- 
tory, and  that  consequently  the  fate  and  lot  of  woman  was 
easier,  brighter  and  clearer  among  them  than  among  any 
other  race. 

Motherhood  was  respected;  family  ties  were  strong.  They 
have  kept  the  ancient  symbolic  covenant. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WOMAN  AFTER  CHRIST. 

In  the  complete  subjection  of  Israel,  almost  in  the  eclipse 
of  faith,  a  maid  appears,  like  a  new,  beautiful,  bright  star 
rising  over  the  hilltops  of  the  land  of  Sarah,  the  land  of 
Deborah.  This  time  the  warfare  is  to  be  spiritual,  not  tem- 
poral. A  thorough  reform  is  to  be  inaugurated;  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places  is  to  be  warred  against.  The 
citadel  of  the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  garrisoned 
with  ail  his  legions,  is  to  be  assailed.  A  sword  must  pierce 
through  the  soul  of  this  maiden  who  holds  the  morning  star. 
The  strife  for  the  possession  of  the  earth  is  about  to  begin. 
It  was  to  be  a  duel  in  the  spirit,  only  partly  visible  as  to  its 
immense  results  on  earth . 

In  former  days,  the  angel  Gabriel  appeared  to  Daniel  in 
Babylon  by  the  river  Ulai.  Then  there  was  hope  for  the 
Jewish  tree,  that  it  should  yet  sprout  again.  Now  was  come 
utter  subjection  and  ruin;  the  long  dark  vista  of  the  dena- 
tionalization of  Israel,  not  for  hundreds,  but  for  thousands 
of  years.  The  Eoman  eagles,  dreadful,  terrible  and  strong 
exceedingly,  flew  over  Palestine.  Yet  never  forgetting,  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever,  Gabriel  comes  to  the 
maid  of  Nazareth  with  brighter  cheer  than  he  came  to  the 
Jewish  statesman  in  Babylon.  Daniel  trembled  and  fell 
on  his  face,  and  retained  no  strength  before  that  bright  and 
awful  Presence.  He  appears  before  the  maid  with  a  saluta- 
tion,— Hail  thou  that  art  highly  favored,  blessed  art  thou 
among  women.  Mary  does  not  tremble,  neither  does  she 
fall  on  her  face.  With  an  earnest,  enquiring  look,  she  casts 
about  in  her  mind  what  manner  of  salutation  this  might  be. 
Then  was  unfolded  to  her  the  message  of  her  mysterious 
conception,  and  promised  maternity.  The  maid  listens  with 
rapt  attention,  a  holy  inspiration  that  casts  out  fear,  for  the 
divine  strength  and  power  is  within  her,  and  around  her. 


**  *  IVERSITY 


She  simply  replies,  but  oh  how  grandly,  how  sublimely,— 
"Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord  !  be  it  unto  me  according 
to  thy  word.  "  Yea,  though  a  sword  should  pierce  her  heart, 
she  accepted  it  all.     The  angel  spoke  of  her  wonderful  child 
as  one  who  should  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob  for  ever 
and  ever;  and  that  of  his  kingdom  there  should  be  no  end; 
an  earthly  sovereignty;  a  temporal  dominion,  sure  to  be  ful- 
filled, though  not  yet  come;  delayed  for  thousands  of  years, 
while  the  spiritual  fight  with  the  powers  in  high  places  which 
we  understand  better  than  Mary  could,  is  still  in  victorious 
progress.     She  understood  that  she  was  to  be  the  mother  of 
the  temporal  Saviour  of  her  people,  and  the  vision  is  yet  for 
an  appointed  time;  though  it  tarry,  it  will  come.     Thy  cousin 
Elizabeth,  he  said,  is  about  to  bear  a  child,  and  this  is  the 
sixth  month  with  her  who  was  called  barren.     The  beautiful 
and  wondrous  Presence  passes  from  her;  and  with  great 
haste  she  goes  into  the  hill  country  of  Bethlehem,  to  the 
house  of  cousin  Elizabeth,  and  salutes  her  in  grave,  sweet 
Oriental  fashion;  but  Elizabeth  exclaims:    "As  soon  as  the 
voice  of  thy  salutation  sounded  on   mine   ears,    the  babe 
leaped  in  my  womb  for  joy;"    and  then  she  reverently  and 
humbly  salutes  her  as  the  mother  of  her  Lord,  and  blessed 
is  she  that  believed,  for  there  shall  be  a  performance  of  the 
things  which  were  spoken.     Then  Mary  replies  in  that  won- 
derful, glorious  outburst  of  inspiration  called  the  Magnifi- 
cent, everywhere  sung  and  chanted  throughout  the  world  to- 
day: "  My  soul  doth   magnify  the  Lord  and  my  spirit  hath 
rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour."     Luke   i,    xlvi,    Iv.     Three 
months  these  loving,  inspired  women  dwelt  together,  Mary 
probably  remaining  till  after  the  birth  of  John,  when  she 
returned  to  her  own  city,  pondering  these  things  in  her  heart. 
Much  has  been  said  with  regard  to  the  conception  of  Jesus. 
Scientists  cannot  fully  explain  the  mystery  of  any  mortal 
birth;  how  the   wonderful   possibilities  of  a  human  being 
arise  from  the  unknown,  and  depart  unto  the  unknown.     If 
we  cannot  fully  unveil  the  strangeness  and  mystery  of  our 
own  exits  and  entrances,  how  can  we  unveil  the  laws  of  the 
birth  of  the  bright  conqueror  of  the  powers  of  darkness,  our 
Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ?   The  joy  of  Mary  in  her  pros- 


[*>] 

pective  maternity  did  not  probably  go  as  far  as  this.  She 
might  think  perhaps  of  a  little  hand  that  might  one  day 
grasp  the  sword  of  Gideon,  or  of  Judas  Maccabeus,  as  the 
disciples  did  at  a  later  date,  when  they  asked  him:  "Lord, 
wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel?'' 

Mary,  you  did  not  know  that  the  whole  earth  was  hushed 
in  peace,  and  waiting  for  thy  divine  motherhood,  which  had 
been  foreshadowed  to  many  nations :  that  in  the  forests  of 
Gaul,  Druids  were  raising  altars  to  the  Virgin  who  was  to 
bring  forth;  that  in  Syria,  Magi  were  scanning  the  skies,  ob- 
serving thy  star;  that  even  in  victorious  Home,  the  Sybilline 
books  told  of  the  Virgin  and  Divine  child,  of  the  serpent 
vanquished,  and  of  the  restoration  of  the  golden  age. 
-  Whence  all  this  peace  and  hushed  expectation,  and  the 
Herald  angel's  song?  Woman  had  turned  her  face  towards 
Paradise.  Paradise  in  Hebrew  means  a  place  of  delights; 
in  Arabic  it  means  a  place  for  the  feeding  of  flocks.  How 
often  are  we  told  of  the  one  fold,  and  one  shepherd;  "Feed 
my  sheep;"  "Other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this  fold." 
In  these  sweet  and  gentle  similitudes  are  imaged  the  Para- 
dise of  the  good  shepherd;  the  green  pastures;  the  still 
water.  "Thou  restorest  my  soul!" 

Mary  holds  her  babe  in  her  arms;  the  diabolic  powers  in- 
censed because  wise  men  from  far  Chaldea  have  recognized 
him,  and  brought  costly  gifts,  hailing  him  as  King  of  the 
Jews,  stir  up  the  .jealousy  of  Herod  to  destroy  him.  So 
Joseph,  Mary  and  the  babe  flee  into  Egypt,  a  journey  of 
about  eight  hundred  miles.  They  reach  Heliopolis,  the  city 
of  the  sun,  and  take  up  their  abode  near  the  sycamores 
and  sweet  waters  of  Metaireh.  They  remain  there  seven 
years,  but  on  Herod's  death  return  to  Judea.  About  two 
years  after  his  return  from  that  long  Egyptian  sojourn  came 
the  first  recorded  gleam  of  his  divine  mission  at  Jerusalem, 
at  the  feast  of  the  Passover.  Tlje  boy,  separated  from  his 
parents,  was  talking  with  the  doctors  in  the  temple.  It  is 
related  that  they  exclaimed,  "  this  is  either  Daniel,  or  an 
angel;"  but  Mary  coming  up,  seeking  her  son,  said,  "  It  is 
Jesus;"  and  then  tenderly  and  anxiously,  ' '  My  son,  why  hast 
thou  done  this?  thy  father  and  I  sought  thee,  sorrowing." 


Then  the  light  shone  forth,  the  light  that  never  was  seen 
before  on  sea  or  land,  the  light  of  Him  who  was  with  His 
Father  before  all  worlds,  and  he  said,  "How  is  it  that  ye 
sought  me;  wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business  ?  "  But  he  returned  with  them  to  Nazareth,  and  re- 
mained subject  unto  them.  For  eighteen  years,  their  home 
life  flowed  on  in  that  pleasant  town,  situated  on  a  mountain 
slope,  looking  on  to  a  delightful  plain.  Joseph  made  ploughs, 
yokes,  and  carts,  and  sometimes  built  houses.  Mary  went  to 
the  village  fountain  for  water,  and  washed  the  clothing  in 
the  sweet  running  streams.  Their  principal  fare  probably 
consisted  of  loaves  of  barley  and  doura,  dates,  butter, 
cheese,  and  dried  and  fresh  fruits  and  herbs.  Sweet  soul- 
fraught  years  of  peaceful  preparation.  Then  the  impulse  of 
his  mission  came  upon  him,  and  Jesus  and  Mary  separated. 
She  heard  of  his  baptism,  of  his  fasting  in  the  wilderness. 
The  power  of  the  spirit  is  upon  Him;  he  is  going  forth  to  con- 
quer, but  not  to  conquer  the  Eoman  power;  a  mightier  king- 
dom is  to  be  overcome;  the  diabolic  power  which  holds  the 
world  in  possession,  with  all  its  legions  of  disease  and  death. 
The  captain  of  our  salvation  rights  palsy,  blindness,  leprosy, 
devils,  and  all  manner  of  disease.  He  is  the  Life  Bringer, 
not  the  Death  Bringer,  like  your  Caesars  or  Napoleons;  yet 
the  world  knew  him  not.  His  days  were  filled  with  inces- 
sant work,  incessant  conflict;  devils  shrink  back;  the  dead 
are  raised ;  to  the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached.  Everywhere 
he  brought  Wholeness,  Holiness.  Crowds  of  people  gath- 
ering in  His  way,  begged  of  Him  life  and  health.  The 
fierce  enmity  of  the  Jewish  leaders  was  aroused.  The  ten- 
der heart  of  Mary  was  rent  with  anxiety  for  her  son.  She 
and  His  brethren,  perhaps  near  relatives,  or  even  townsfolk, 
came  to  Capernaum,  where  He  was,  hoping  to  induce  Him 
to  return  home  with  them.  While  earnestly  engaged  in  His 
work,  some  one  said,  "Thy  mother  and  brethren  are  with- 
out, desiring  to  speak  with  Thee,"  but  He  replies,  "My 
mother  and  brethren  are  they  who  do  the  will  of  God  and 
keep  it."  But  he  returned,  and  the  still  more  ferocious 
enmity  of  His  own  townspeople  is  roused  against  Him  by 
His  declaration  of  His  divine  mission,  so  that  they  attempt 


[Va] 

His  life.  We  hear  afterwards  that  Mary  Mother  and  the 
other  Marys  followed  Him,  and  ministered  to  Him,  even  to 
the  foot  of  the  terrible  cross.  Very  early  were  they  at  the 
sepulchre,  and  tradition  relates  that  Mary  Mother  first  met 
and  spoke  with  her  son,  who  appeared  as  a  working  gar- 
dener, while  the  others  were  looking  into  the  sepulchre. 

Mary  Mother  continued  with  the  church  in  Jerusalem  for 
ten  years;  shared  in  the  wonder  and  mystery  of  the  forty 
days  after  the  resurrection,  and  the  joy  and  blessedness  of 
the  Ascension.  At  the  end  of  ten  years,  John  took  her  to 
Ephesus,  whither  Mary  of  Magdala  followed  her.  In  that 
beautiful  Greek  city,  Mary  of  Galilee  is  said  to  have  dwelt 
for  many  years.  At  last,  feeling  that  the  time  drew  near 
that  she  should  enter  to  be  where  He  was,  she  desired 
to  return  to  Jerusalem,  the  beloved  but  rebellious  city,  so 
soon  to  be  destroyed  utterly.  Not  long  after  she  arrived, 
feeling  that  her  hour  was  almost  come,  she  desired  to  see 
the  Apostles  and  Elders  of  the  Church,  and  in  their  pres- 
ence, and  in  that  of  the  beloved  John,  she  peacefully  de- 
parted,— Mary  Mother,  blessed  for  ever  more.  Tradition 
says  that  a  soft  light  filled  the  chamber  of  death. 

Christ  never  treated  woman  in  any  manner  that  would 
imply  inferiority.  His  talk  with  the  woman  of  Samaria 
was  as  deep  and  profound  as  that  with  His  disciples,  if  not 
more  so.  Deep  and  profound  love,  and  the  joy  of  service 
built  and  cemented  the  early  church  with  the  perfect  liberty 
of  love,  and  the  fullness  and  power  of  sanctification.  Every- 
where Christ  treated  woman  without  the  slightest  regard 
to  conventional  respectability.  She  was  to  Him  woman 
equal  and  eternal  with  man,  destined  in  a  brighter  future 
to  be  absolute  in  harmony  and  equality,  with  a  divine  dif- 
ference. The  subjection  of  woman  had  no  place  under  the 
Restorer  of  Paradise. 

One  day  He  sat  at  meat  in  a  house  of  the  better  class, 
where,  though  He  and  His  Disciples  had  been  invited  to 
eat,  the  customary  attention  paid  to  an  honored  guest  had 
not  been  shown  to  Him.  A  woman  enters  among  the 
attendants,  and  gliding  to  the  couch  of  the  Master,  for 
some  of  the  Jews  had  adopted  the  Roman  habit  of  reclining 


1 23 1 

at  meals,  she  perfumes  his  hair  with  precious  ointment. 
He  silently  accepted  the  graceful  and  customary  attention, 
till  roused  by  the  whispered  remarks  of  His  Disciples  and 
the  disrespectful  comments  of  His  host,  He  quietly  and 
sadly  says:  "Trouble  her  not;  against  the  day  of  my 
burial  hath  she  done  this."  It  was  the  consecration  of  that 
body  so  perfect  in  its  glorious  manhood,  to  death,  not  to 
pleasure,  adding  with  a  profound  feeling  which  showed  how 
deeply  the  woman's  act  had  touched  Him:  "Wheresoever 
this  Gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  there  shall 
also  this  that  this  woman  hath  done,  be  told  for  a  memorial 
of  her," — for  the  day  of  his  burial! — for  few  were  the  days 
between  that  social  hall  and  the  terrible  hall  of  Pilate. 
And  gliding  unchecked  to  His  feet,  she  anointed  them  with 
the  same  precious  ointment  and  her  flowing  tears,  and 
wiped  them  with  her  long  and  loosened  hair.  Profound 
homage  of  woman's  heart  to  her  best  and  truest  friend. 
How  many  women  since  then  have  wept  at  his  feet,  and  He 
has  comforted  them,  for  as  He  was  on  earth,  so  He  is  in 
Heaven. 

For  three  hundred  years  men  and  women  possessed  of 
His  Spirit,  and,  believing  in  His  name,  lived  as  He  lived, 
and  died  as  He  died.  Long  processions  of  victors,  wear- 
ing the  martyr's  crown,  stepped  inside  the  heavenly  gates. 
Woman  stood  side  by  side  with  man  in  the  arena,  in  the 
flames,  in  the  torture.  They  were  afflicted,  tormented,  and 
rejoicing.  Marvelous  were  the  gifts  and  glories  of  that 
early  day.  But  the  time  came  when  the  spirit  was  lost,  and 
the  church  leaders  sold  out  to  the  Emperor.  After  a  while 
they  made  the  image  of  the  Divine  Man  a  figurehead  to 
back  up  earthly  sovereignty  and  ecclesiastical  tyrannies. 
The  Son  of  Man,  whose  life  was  eminently  free,  social  and 
humanitarian,  was  made  into  a  divine  idol  to  countenance 
the  restraints  and  constraints  of  the  life  in  death  of  the 
convent  and  cloister.  It  is  true,  also,  that  the  iron  shell  of 
the  convent  preserved  the  thought  and  literature  of  former 
time  in  the  terrible  pressure  of  the  crushing  out  of  an  old 
society  and  the  forming  a  new  one.  In  this  mixed  condi- 


tion,  scarcely  any  evil  is  without  its  good,  nor  good  without 
its  evil. 

The  feeling  towards  woman  was  such  as  it  had  never  been 
before.  The  worship  of  Mary  gave  rise  to  chivalry,  by 
which  woman  by  degrees  became  placed  in  a  false  position, 
the  recipient  of  honors  she  did  not  always  earn  or  merit; 
and  soon  a  spirit  of  sham  religion,  of  scholastic  jargon,  of 
melancholy  self-introspection,  of  acrid  and  wordy  disputes, 
took  the  place  of  the  grand  triumphal  faith  of  the  three 
first  centuries.  Still,  the  wonderful  ideal  of  human  love 
blended  with  divine  had  come  into  the  world,  and  some 
men,  touched  by  the  spirit,  recognized  and  felt  it.  As 
Dante  did  in  his  wonderful  love  for  Beatrice,  whom  he  saw 
after  her  death  in  vision  in  Paradise  among  the  trees  of  life. 
The  tenderness  of  woman  was  sustained  by  the  divine  Ideal, 
the  word  manifested  in  flesh.  The  wedded  pair  were  em- 
blems of  Christ  and  His  loved  ones.  The  seed  of  the 
woman  bruised  the  fiery  head  of  the  serpent,  the  de- 
ceiving one,  by  re-baptising  and  re-creating  the  whole 
sexual  nature,  so  that  it  became  re-invested  with  the  divine. 
The  mystery  of  the  new  revelation  was  only  the  mystery  of 
laws  imperfectly  understood.  There  was  hope  for  woman 
and  the  toiler.  Woman  commenced  to  free  herself  from  the 
coils  of  the  old  serpent  of  sense  and  sensuality.  A  little 
leaven  began  to  leaven  the  whole  lump.  Ascetism  and 
monasticism  sprang  from  the  struggles  of  human  souls  to 
meet  the  serpentine  powers  and  gain  the  mastery  over  them; 
it  was  a  throe  of  the  agony  of  the  new  birth.  Abelard  was 
the  most  advanced  thinker  of  his  times;  the  spirit  that  was 
within  him  rebelled  at  the  scholastic  learning  which  had 
overlaid  the  grand  religious  life  and  faith  of  the  past.  He 
had  mastered  all  its  intricacies,  and  was  acknowledged  to 
be  the  ablest  disputant  in  Paris,  a  very  Paul  in  the  guise 
of  a  Doctor  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  was  of  a  noble  family. 
In  those  days  only  two  careers  were  open  to  the  sons  of 
nobles:  the  army  and  the  church.  Abelard  chose  the  latter. 
He  frequented  the  house  of  the  Canon  Fulbert,  near 
the  Church  of  Notre  Dame,  and  there  met  his  neice, 
Eloise.  She  was  beautiful,  aspiring,  thoughtful  and  mother- 


[•51 

less.  Abelard,  much  older  than  herself,  became  her  con- 
stant companion.  They  pored  over  the  same  books,  com- 
mented on  the  same  themes,  they  loved;  love  explains 
many  mysteries,  and  the  mind  of  Abelard  was  never  clearer 
than  under  the  inspiration  of  Eloise,  his  devoted  pupil. 
Abelard  was  a  man  of  noble  birth,  as  well  as  an  abbe,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  permissive  gallantry  of  the  age,  spent 
much  of  his  time  in  composing  love  songs  to  the  young 
beauty  who  dwelt  in  almost  conventual  seclusion.  They 
were  secretly  married;  love  blossomed  into  fruit.  She  bore 
a  son,  but  she  refused  to  permit  him  to  acknowledge  the 
marriage,  as  she  feared  it  would  bar  his  prospects  in  the 
church.  She  had  left  her  uncle's  house,  and  Fulbert,  filled 
with  rage  against  Abelard,  had  him  seized  in  the  night 
and  mutilated.  After  the  mutilation,  Eloise,  by  Abelard's 
desire,  entered  a  convent.  Abelard  gathered  some  devoted 
disciples  around  him,  and  founded  the  monastery  of  the 
Paraclete,  which  after  a  while  he  gave  to  Eloise,  who  re- 
tired to  it  with  her  nuns  and  became  its  abbess.  Abelard 
had  a  life  of  toil  and  struggle.  He  was  too  great  and  too 
clear-seeing  for  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  He  died  at  last 
in  a  remote  monastery  in  Brittany,  and  in  accordance  with 
his  last  wishes,  his  body  was  brought  from  Brittany  and 
laid  within  the  chapel  of  the  Paraclete.  Eloise  and  Abelard 
never  met  but  once  after  she  took  the  veil,  but  years  after 
some  letters  of  Abelard's  fell  into  her  hands  and  revived  all 
the  old  feelings.  She  wrote  to  him  those  wonderful  letters, 
which  still  exist.  She  speaks  of  his  name  lying  so  close 
to  the  thought  of  God  in  her  heart,  of  the  recollections  of 
his  sojourn  in  the  Paraclete  being  entwined  with  every 
stone.  Here  she  says  his  eyes  had  dwelt  and  his  presence 
filled  the  day  with  glory.  She  tells  him  that  when  she  took 
the  veil,  at  his  request,  it  seemed  as  if  the  shrines  trem- 
bled and  the  lamps  grew  pale.  She  says  that  neither  grace 
nor  zeal,  but  only  love  was  her  call,  and  that  she  still 
clings  to  his  love,  the  divine  ideal  love  which  existed  wholly 
apart  from  the  senses,  and  she  begs  him  to  visit  her,  that 
his  words  may  direct  her  to  a  higher  life,  which  is  supreme 
and  eternal.  This  was  a  love  experience  which  no  woman 


before  Christ  could  ever  have  possessed.     It  was  a  revela- 
tion of  the  divine  matehood. 

I  can  best  illustrate  the  position  of  woman  after  Christ 
by  one  or  two  conspicuous  examples,  landmarks  on  the  sea 
of  centuries — pre-eminently  spiritual  women,  receptive  in 
a  great  degree  of  the  power  which  exalteth  a  people.  They 
all  had  to  stand  alone.  No  Barak  was  by  Joan's  side  to 
turn  the  tide  of  battle.  Eloise  was  alone  in  the  Paraclete. 
Years  of  Madame  Guyon's  life  were  spent  in  solitude  and  in 
prison.  Woman  had  to  win  her  way  back  to  Paradise 
alone,  and  through  suffering.  It  was  for  Cleopatra  to  revel 
and  for  Aspasia  to  triumph;  it  was  for  Joan  to  die  and  for 
Eloise  to  live,  which  is  sometimes  the  longest  martyrdom. 
Luther's  reformation  was  entirely  masculine;  it  touched  only 
the  masculine  elements.  He  was  a  good  husband,  and  a 
good  father,  and  a  great  man,  but  I  do  not  think  ever  con- 
templated the  possibility  of  woman  standing  side  by  side 
with  him  in  any  spiritual  works.  He  has  impressed  that 
feeling  on  his  followers,  whereas  the  strength  of  the  Catholic 
Church  to-day  lies  in  its  recognition  of  the  woman  element. 
The  exponent  of  the  reformation  in  England,  Henry  VIII, 
took  the  abbey  lands  from  the  church  and  gave  them  to  his 
rapacious  followers,  under  whose  exactions  England  and 
Ireland  are  groaning  to-day.  Luther's  reformation  was  not 
profoundly  social,  but  the  reformation  of  George  Fox,  of 
the  Port  Koyal  nuns,  and  even  of  Wesley,  was.  Woman 
mothered  the  idea  from  which  sprang  social  liberty  and 
advancement.  It  irradiated  the  world  with  the  Christ 
spirit.  In  Pennsylvania,  the  Quaker,  by  whose  side  woman 
stood  with  kindly  grace,  yet  with  perfect  freedom,  protected 
also  the  Indian  and  the  negro.  In  the  anti-slavery  agitation, 
woman  was  the  friend  and  co-worker  of  the  noblest,  truest 
men  of  the  age,  and  oh,  if  Northern  and  Southern  mothers 
could  have  met  side  by  side  with  our  conscript  fathers, 
would  that  cruel  war  have  mowed  down  our  best  and 
bravest,  and  would  there  have  been  a  chance  for  the  domi- 
nant party  when  once  fairly  seated  to  grasp  the  unlimited 
and  almost  irresponsible  control  of  the  nation's  wealth,  and 


[    27    ] 

by  insane  luxury  pave  the  way  for  the  downfall  of  the  Re- 
public ? 

The  ideal  of  Protestantism  in  Germany  and  in  England 
is  comfort,  largely  physical  comfort,  and  of  woman  as  a 
comforter  in  that  sense,  which  is,  no  doubt,  good  as  far 
as  it  goes.  To  have  a  woman  who  filled  all  the  demands  of 
his  life,  without  infringing  on  his  kingly  prerogative,  be- 
came man's  highest  aim,  and  when  woman  could  fill  the  bill 
in  that  respect,  it  was  deemed  that  she  had  reached  the 
highest  point  she  ought  to  hope  to  attain.  Comfort  and  the 
idea  of  woman  as  supremely  connected  with  comfort,  came 
in  with  Protestantism,  the  free  towns  of  Germany  and  the 
rise  and  progress  of  navigation  in  England.  It  was  the 
burgher's  ideal.  The  lady  of  the  middle  ages  was  often  the 
mother  of  her  vassals,  sometimes  a  skilled  physician,  and 
even  a  dauntless  warrior.  The  magic  pen  of  Scott  has  given 
life  and  warmth  to  these  recollections.  Fielding  and  his  com- 
peers show  the  gross  sensuousness  into  which  the  comfort- 
seeking  type  ran,  often  crowning  a  series  of  not  very  decent 
adventures  with  the  purely  animal-like  bliss  of  mated  squir- 
rels. 

I  will  illustrate  the  possibilities  of  woman  by  one  of 
the  strangest,  most  remarkable  and  saddest  lives  of  the 
middle  ages.  There  was  a  time  when  France  was  conquered 
by  England,  and  at  her  mercy,  her  King  was  a  fugitive  and  her 
people  the  unwilling  vassals  of  a  foreign  power.  At  this 
time  a  shepherd  girl,  with  dreamy,  meditative  eyes,  quiet 
and  sedate,  is  living  and  laboring  at  Domreny.  Her  hard 
peasant  life  had  strung  her  nerves  and  given  strength  and 
endurance  to  her  bodily  frame.  In  the  field  herding  her 
sheep,  in  the  noontide's  hush,  or  in  the  evening's  repose, 
voices  come,  and  she  listens  until  her  love  and  confidence  is 
won  and  her  heart  is  inspired.  She  is  loving,  obedient  and 
faithful,  the  Lord's  handmaid.  This  unseen  presence  fills 
her  soul  with  peace  and  rest  and  gives  her  power.  She  was 
told  that  she  should  deliver  her  country  and  how  she  should 
do  it,  and  the  means  she  should  take  to  accomplish  this  re- 
sult. *Her  hand,  accustomed  to  rude  instruments  of  labor, 
must  bear  the  sword  of  St.  Catherine.  „  She  should  have 


horse  and  armor  and  discern  the  King  in  the  midst  of  his 
nobles.  Her  mission  is  coldly  and  doubtfully  recognized, 
but  she  goes  forth  at  last,  a  warrior  maid — a  consecrated 
leader.  Hiding  her  white  horse  find  bearing  her  standard, 
she  turns  the  tide  of  battle;  victory  crowns  her  in  many 
combats.  Her  King  is  crowned  and  anointed  in  Reims,  and 
the  land  is  freed  from  the  invader.  She  now  asks  to  return 
to  her  father's  fields  and  her  peasant  life  once  more.  The 
nobles  and  generals  despised  and  envied  that  strange  in- 
spired girl,  but  the  people  and  the  soldiers  loved  and  revered 
her,  and  the  enemy  dreaded  her,  supposing  her  to  be  a  sor- 
ceress. The  King  entreated  her  to  remain  and  she  con- 
sented, much  against  her  will.  Alas,  for  the  fatal  fight 
of  Compeigne!  When  leading  her  soldiers,  she  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  fierce  Burgundians  and  sold  to  the 
English  for  sixteen  thousand  francs.  The  English  war- 
riors dared  not,  they  could  not  carry  out  the  terrible  fate 
her  enemies  reserved  for  her,  for  this  valiant  leader  was  a 
prisoner  of  war.  So  they  shifted  the*  responsibility  on  to 
the  church,  and  Joan  was  brought  before  the  ecclesiastical 
tribunal  of  the  Bishop  of  Beauvais  as  a  sorceress  and 
heretic,  fearful  and  comprehensive  word,  often  a  synonym 
for  all  that  is  noblest.  After  a  period  of  insulting  and  tor- 
turing imprisonment,  she  was  brought  to  trial  and  con- 
demned to  be  burnt  at  the  stake.  Her  voices  were  derided, 
her  mission  and  herself  insulted.  The  noble  soul  went  up 
in  a  fiery  chariot.  Like  her  Master,  she  was  martyred  by 
the  consent  of  Herod,  Pilate,  and  the  Priests,  but  she 
bore  witness  even  in  the  flames  to  the  truth  of  her  mission. 
Alone  with  God  she  delivered  her  people.  She  fought  the 
good  fight  and  received  her  fiery  crown.  Countless  lives  of 
women  have  there  been,  loving  as  Eloise,  glorious  as  Joan's, 
devoted  as  Madame  Guyon's.  It  is  the  difference  in  the  lift 
and  spring  of  these  lives  that  should  be  remarked.  The 
new  element  that  was  added,  the  new  victories  that  were 
achieved, — and  they  bore  a  joyful  yoke,  an  easy  yoke,  when 
it  became  a  burdensome,  gloomy,  sorrowful  yoke,  it  was 
no  longer  Christ's  yoke,  but  man's  yoke. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  striking  and  important  illustra- 


1 »9] 

tion,  the  one  that  most  intimately  concerns  us  to-day,  be- 
cause it  is  a  practical  illustration  of  a  most  vital  and 
important  doctrine — the  doctrine  of  perfect  sanctification.  It 
is  the  life  of  Francoise  Guyon,  a  suffering,  yet  a  joyful  life; 
a  bird  singing  its  sweetest  songs  behind  prison  bars.  She 
was  beautiful,  and  of  a  rich  and  noble  family.  In  her  youth 
she  loved,  but  that  love  was  disappointed.  "I  began,'1  she 
says,  "  to  seek  in  the  creature  what  I  had  found  in  God.' 
According  to  French  customs,  a  marriage  was  arranged  for 
her  by  her  parents,  and  she  was  transferred  to  her  husband's 
house.  But  she  was  no  sooner  there  than  she  found  that  it 
would  be  for  her  a  house  of  mourning.  The  whole  family 
was  harsh  and  cold,  blind  to  her  merits  and  rude  to  her 
sympathies.  The  loving  soul,  shut  out  from  the  natural 
possibilities  of  affection,  devoted  itself  to  works  of  mercy. 
She  prepared  medicines,  visited  the  sick,  loaned  to  me- 
chanics, tradesmen  and  others  small  sums  that  enabled 
them  to  start  in  business,  and  fulfilled  her  duties  to  a  sickly 
and  irritable  husband  and  the  children  she  bore  him. 

Gradually  her  spiritual  sphere  became  enlarged.  She 
held  the  door  open  and  the  divine  guest  entered.  She  saw 
that  the  substance  of  religion  is  the  same  in  Catholics  and 
Protestants;  that  it  is  always  allied  to  angels  and  God,  and 
always  meeting  with  opposition  from  what  is  not  angelic 
and  not  of  God.  About  this  time  she  experienced  sanctifi- 
cation. She  says  a  sanctified  heart  is  always  in  union  with 
divine  Providence.  She  became  filled  with  a  sense  of  inward 
purity,  and  from  this  time  was  in  the  enjoyment  of  liberty. 
' 'Some."  she  says,  "are  like  a  pump,  in  which  the  water  is 
thrown  out  with  effort,  but  those  who  are  in  the  enjoyment 
of  sanctification  are  like  a  well."  The  majority  of  persons 
are  brought  into  this  state  as  she  was,  through  exceeding 
afflictions.  It  was  very  dangerous  at  the  time  in  which  she 
lived,  a  corrupt  time,  when  insane  luxury  was  preparing  the 
way  for  re  volution,  even  to  see  these  things;  it  was  almost  fatal 
to  teach  them. 

About  this  time  she  met  with  Father  La  Combe,  a  soul 
like  unto  hers,  purified  by  affliction  and  advanced  unto  con- 
secration and  sanctification,  a  rare  soul,  but  foredoomed  to 


I   3°  ] 

martyrdom  in  those  days  when  a  corrupt  church  was  nearing 
its  downfall.  They  had  much  communion  together,  sacred 
hours  of  interchange,  never  to  be  forgotten.  She  desired 
that  he  should  become  her  spiritual  director.  He  at  first 
declined  and  then  accepted  that  office.  More  clear-seeing 
than  La  Combe  and  led  into  a  higher  experience,  she  opened 
to  him  this  hidden  way,  the  divine  way  of  full  sanctifica- 
tion.  She  was  shown  that  this  experience  strikes  at  the 
root  of  all  earthly  desire,  as  well  as  of  all  earthly  support; 
that  the  outward  is  subject  to  the  inward;  that  the  union 
with  the  will  of  God  becomes  natural  and  fixed.  Unsancti- 
fied  passion,  she  says,  loses  its  power  on  those  who  are  fully 
sanctified.  The  mind  assumes  a  unity  of  character.  The 
inflowing  love  of  God  reduces  all  principles  and  motives  of 
action  to  one.  It  is  revealed  to  her  that  she  should  become 
the  mother  of  a  numerous  people,  a  people  simple  and  child- 
like (how  wonderfully  is  that  fulfilled  in  these  last  days!) 
"  My  soul,"  she  said,  "  seemed  to  pass  into  God  and  be  lost 
in  Him,  as  the  waters  of  a  river  pass  into  the  ocean  and  are 
lost  in  it.  This  life  is  an  inconceivable  innocence." 

But  Francoise  Guyon  could  not  keep  the  light  that  was  in 
her  from  shining  out.  It  shone  itself,  and  she  became  the 
inspiration  of  La  Combe,  as  in  later  years  she  became  the 
inspiration  of  Fenelon.  La  Combe  afterwards  began  to 
preach  holiness  and  full  sanctification.  They  had  one 
thought  and  one  object — to  lead  others  into  the  divine  way 
they  had  found  themselves. 

After  her  husband's  death  she  retired  to  a  convent  in 
Switzerland,  and  there  met  with  many  persecutions.  The}7 
could  not  comprehend  her  nor  fellowship  with  her.  A  beau- 
tiful girl  boarding  at  the  convent  attracted  the  attention  of 
a  powerful  and  wealthy  priest,  but  through  the  influence  of 
Madame  Guyon  over  the  girl,  his  plans  came  to  naught. 
This  added  to  her  difficulties. 

She  left  the  convent  and  went  to  live  in  a  small  cottage 
with  her  faithful  maid,  La  Gautiere,  and  her  little  daughter. 
Her  household  was  assailed,  her  cottage  injured,  and  her 
garden  destroyed.  She  was  very  much  drawn  to  the  young 
Swiss  working  girls.  There  were  some,  she  says,  who  worked 


[  3'    ] 

all  day  long,  and  sanctified  their  work  by  silent  prayer. 
They  would  select  one  of  their  number  to  read  to  them  as 
they  worked.  After  a  while  she  returned  to  Paris,  and 
while  there  became  much  sought  after  by  many  distinguished 
people  and  ladies  of  the  court.  Her  influence  was  widely 
felt.  The  sweet,  subtle  perfume  of  the  spirit  was  wafted 
round  wherever  she  appeared.  The  name  of  Quietists  was 
attached  to  those  who  received  these  doctrines,  and  they 
were  declared  false,  rash  and  impious,  and  similar  to  those 
of  the  Puritans  of  England.  Puritanism  was  agitating 
England  at  that  time  and  about  to  find  its  outlet  in  America; 
but  Puritanism  was  essentially  masculine  in  many  of  its 
characteristics.  It  persecuted  Quakers,  and  hung,  on  the 
great  oak  of  Boston  Common,  Mary  Hutchinson,  a  woman 
whose  soul  could  not  be  bound  in  fetters  of  their  devising, 
but  who  preferred  freedom  and  death  to  the  bondage  of  the 
spirit.  Mme.  Guyon  says:  "He  does  well  who  fasts  on  bread 
and  water,  but  he  does  better  who  fasts  from  his  own  desires 
and  his  own  will.  The  sanctified  soul  has  power  with  God 
and  with  man." 

The  sweet,  exalted  spirit  of  Archbishop  Fenelon  recog- 
nized her  influence.  His  friendship  and  profound  tender- 
ness and  respect  for  her  never  ceased  till  the  end  of  his  pure 
and  holy  life,  but  it  involved  him  in  a  controversy  with  the 
narrow  soul  of  Bossuet,  and  finally  drove  him  into  exile, 
where  he  quietly  and  blessedly  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his 
episcopate — a  true  shepherd  of  the  sheep.  It  was  no  priva- 
tion to  him  to  leave  Paris;  the  country  delighted  him.  "In 
the  midst  of  my  duties,"  he  said,  "I  find  God's  holy  peace." 
Madame  Guyon  says:  "I  presented  Fenelon  before  God  in 
special  prayer." 

The  Port  Koyal  nuns  were  touched  by  the  divine  flame, 
and  brooded  under  the  wings  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  To  them 
this  also  brought  spoliation  and  destruction.  An  armed 
band  despoiled  the  convent  and  dispersed  the  Sisters.  An 
aged  nun,  the  last  to  leave  the  ruined  building,  raising  her 
hand  in  the  presence  of  the  leader  of  the  band  and  his  sol- 
diers, said :  "To-day,  sirs,  is  the  hour  of  man,  but  b,e  assured 
that  another  day — the  day  of  God's  righteous  retribution — 


1 3* 1 

will  soon  come!"  And  it  came,  with  the  tocsin  of  revolu- 
tion, the  barricades  of  Paris,  the  reign  of  terror,  and  the 
summons  of  kings  and  nobles  to  judgment. 

But  Madame  Guyon's  teachings  could  not  go  on;  these 
dangerous  voices  must  be  silenced.  La  Combe  wrote  to 
her:  "The  times  look  heavy;  the  storm  gathers  in  the  sky. 
I  feel  resigned  to  reproaches  and  ignominies,  I  am  about  to 
suffer.  It  is  my  wish  that  you  should  sacrifice  me  to  God, 
as  I  have  sacrificed  myself.''  His  presentiments  were  ful- 
filled. He  was  imprisoned  shortly  afterwards;  a  life-long 
imprisonment  of  twenty-seven  years,  from  which  he  emerged 
only  to  be  taken  to  the  hospital  at  Charenton,  where  he 
died.  Madame  Gnyon  did  all  she  could  for  him;  sent  him 
money  and  books,  and  wrote  him  comforting  and  affection- 
ate letters  as  long  as  she  was  able.  He  wrote  her:  "All  my 
desires  are  summed  up  in  one — that  God  may  be  glorified 
in  me." 

Three  months  after  La  Combe's  imprisonment  Mme.  Guyon 
was  imprisoned.  She  says  in  her  diary:  "O  Holy  Spirit  of 
Love,  let  me  be  subject  to  thy  will!"  and  then,  August  20, 
1688:  "I  am  now  forty  years  of  age,  in  prison,  a  place  I 
love  and  cherish,  as  I  find  it  sanctified  by  the  Lord." 

After  eight  months  she  was  liberated,  then  imprisoned 
again,  and  at  last  consigned  to  the  Bastille — that  gloomy 
and  terrible  fortress  of  old  Paris.  This  time  the  imprison- 
ment was  designed  to  crush  her,  and  it  did,  physically.  Her 
faithful  maid,  La  Gautiere,  who  had  shared  her  other  pris- 
ons, was  not  permitted  to  be  with  her.  La  Gautiere  was 
more  than  a  servant;  she  was  a  sister  beloved  in  the  Lord. 
Together  had  they  sung  and  prayed  and  given  thanks.  Some 
of  the  sweetest  songs  of  that  dear,  inspired  poet  of  the  New 
Dispensation  came  from  behind  her  prison  bars.  Mme. 
Guyon  looked  up  in  her  gloomy  cell  in  the  Bastille  and  saw 
no  sun ;  that  dove  of  tenderness,  who  would  fain  have  gone 
forth,  bearing  a  message  of  love  to  every  human  soul;  she, 
who  had  lived  softly  in  her  sunny  gardens,  could  see  no 
green  fields  or  woods — only  iron-bound  windows,  in  the 
immense  thickness  of  the  walls — and  more  than  this,  they 


[  33] 

made  her  suffer  the  keenest  mental  and  spiritual  torture 
with  diabolic  ingenuity. 

La  Gautiere  died  in  prison.  She  wrote  before  her  death, 
"I  am  in  this  prison,  and  Mme.  Guy  on  is  in  an  other  cell,  but 
we  are  united  in  spirit.  The  walls  of  a  prison  cannot  hinder 
the  union  of  souls/' 

After  years  of  imprisonment,  her  sentence  was  commuted 
into  exile.  She  emerged  from  this  den  of  torture,  sick,  and 
ever  after  incapable  of  any  active  work;  a  dove  with  broken 
wings.  But  she  says,  with  all  her  old  sweetness,  "  My  life  is 
consecrated  to  God,  to  suffer  for  Him,  as  well  as  to  enjoy  him.'' 
And  then  looking  back  to  the  years  of  her  active  life,  she 
says:  "  My  mission  has  been,  and  is,  to  lead  those  who  are 
already  beginners  to  perfect  conversion."  She  was  a  sweet 
songstress,  a  sweet  lyrical  poet.  She  left  behind  her  many 
published  works. 

It  is  a  relief  to  think  that  she  saw  green  fields  and  the  sun 
once  more.  The  time  of  her  departure  came  in  the  beauti- 
ful month  of  June,  1717.  She  went  home  in  peace. 

Such  was  woman  after  Christ — one  in  his  love  and  in  the 
fellowship  of  his  sufferings. 

The  undaunted  heart  which  beat  under  Joan's  armor  was 
no  stronger  and  no  steadier  than  the  loving  resignation  of 
Mme.  Guyon  in  the  Bastile,  or  of  Eloise  in  the  Paraclete. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WOMAN  IN  THE  TRANSITIONAL  PERIOD. 

The  Transitional  Period  now  opens, — violent  and  stormy, 
with  the  terrible  retributions  of  French  revolutions  and 
Napoleonic  wars;  also,  the  development  in  the  western 
world  of  the  great  and  powerful  English-speaking  nations 
of  America,  and  many  other  signs  and  tokens.  In  this  period 
we  live  to-day,  and  as  time  wears  on,  confusion  becomes 
worse  confounded  and  the  babble  of  voices  increases,  so 
that  those  who  in  any  department  give  out  a  clear,  audible 
voice,  give  out  a  distinct  answer  to  any  question,  whether  as 
touching  labor,  finance,  sociology,  temperance,  or  any  other 
vital  question  ought  to  be  carefully  regarded,  and  what  they 
have  to  say  wisely  considered.  In  England  it  is  becoming 
a  very  important  question  how  large  masses  of  human 
beings  are  to  be  housed.  Even  here  it  is  becoming  a  ques- 
tion how  large  masses  of  people  are  to  be  fed,  in  spite  of 
the  immensely  increasing  average  wealth  of  the  nation,  but 
it  all  goes  into  a  few  hands,  and  the  tendency  that  way  is 
increasing.  The  English  are  rebelling  against  their  heredi- 
tary house  of  law  makers,  of  which  the  late  immense 
meeting  of  a  hundred  thousand  people  in  Hyde  Park,  sing- 
ing the  Marseillaise  and  crying,  "Down  with  the  Peers," 
is  a  very  significant  token. 

The  frugal,  patient  Germans  are  asking  why  they  should 
feed,  pay  and  clothe  thousands  of  their  best  producers,  who 
are  kept  in  uniformed  idleness  and  used  as  a  force  to  tighten 
the  bonds  on  the  people  who  are  supporting  them. 

Conditions  of  inharmony  in  families  are  becoming  more 
and  more  trying,  two-thirds,  or  even  more  of  households 
are  places  of  purgatory,  where  suffering  souls  antagonize. 
The  air  is  charged  with  unspent  forces,  "ancestral  voices 
prophesying  war."  Oh,  how  precious  is  every  soul  that 
knows  how  to  make  its  own  harmony,  and  radiates  an  at- 
mosphere of  peace. 


I  35  ] 

Law  is  no  longer  respectable;  justice  is  too  often  a  thing 
of  barter  and  sale;  the  church  is  fast  losing  its  power, 
unless  as  some  heaven-endowed  men  and  women  make  a 
spot  of  radiance  and  a  home  of  sympathy.  Then  people 
come  round  to  warm  themselves  by  the  fire  of  the  spirit, 
and  are  blessed.  One  feature  of  our  modern  society  is  the 
unveiling  of  shams,  and  as  they  are  unveiled,  it  is  seen  how 
defective  the  underpining  of  present  society  is. 

We  are  living  under  the  shadow  of  the  impending  wall 
which  in  the  interior  of  the  pyramid,  is  represented 
as  closing  the  great  gallery  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 
Woman  is  awakened  by  the  tocsins  of  approaching  conflict, 
which  are  sounding  everywhere.  She  perceives  that  she 
must  eat  her  bread  by  the  sweat  of  her  brow,  and  that  the 
conditions  under  which  she  can  do  so  are  becoming  day  by 
day  more  onerous.  She  is  invading,  where  she  can,  the  wider 
and  easier  spheres  of  action.  Unregenerated  woman  makes 
a  common  cause  with  the  serpentine  head,  and  receives  its 
honors  and  rewards,  but  as  the  daughters  of  light  are  not 
willing  to  do  this,  the  conflict  goes  on. 

Woman  is  claiming  suffrage.  It  is  a  question  in  many 
minds  whether  any  form  of  representation  as  at  present 
existing  amounts  to  much,  or  whether  it  is  not  after  all  only 
a  cleverly  managed  and  ingeniously  arranged  sleight  of  hand 
performance  for  the  benefit  of  the  wire  pullers.  Your  Leg- 
islatures do  not  represent  one-eighth  of  the  men  who  vote. 
The  United  States  Senate  does  not  represent  one-twentieth 
of  the  men  who  vote.  Can  you  wonder  that  the  extraordi- 
nary machine  you  call  government,  from  which  one-half  of 
the  average  intelligence  and  fully  one-third  of  the  property 
of  the  country  is  entirely  excluded  should  be  so  very  con- 
summate a  failure  ?  It  is  known  that  some  of  the  best  and 
ablest  men  in  America  have  withdrawn  themselves  from 
politics.  If  the  suffrage  is  granted  to  woman  under  existing 
conditions,  the  women  who  minister  to  the  serpentine  head 
will  continue  to  do  so,  and  receive  its  honors  and  rewards; 
but  if  the  daughters  of  light  come  to  the  front,  the  daughters 
of  light,  who  can  neither  be  bought,  sold  or  terrified,  then 
a  different  and  stranger  thing  will  be  made  manifest;  then 


[36] 

will  be  understood  the  saying  of  the  Master :  If  new  wine 
be  poured  into  old  bottles,  then  will  the  bottles  burst  and 
the  wine  be  spilled.  So  when  the  woman  element,  which 
belongs  to  the  new  dispensation,  and  the  new  government, 
and  can  only  come  into  its  place  when  it  is  subjected  to  its 
laws,  attempts  to  force  its  way  into  old  conditions,  the 
consequence  will  be  that  old  conditions,  or  the  old  bottles 
of  old  governments  will  burst  to  pieces. 

Then  the  last  desperate  effort  to  unite  the  scattered  and 
falling  serpentine  power  will  be  made  under  the  man  of  sin, 
who  will  honor  the  God  of  forces,  the  distinctively  mascu- 
line God,  and  despise  the  desire  of  woman  for  freedom  and 
representation. 

The  German  poet,  Goethe,  in  his  wonderful  poem  of 
Faust,  has  portrayed  the  unsatisfied  longings  and  desires  of 
the  Transitional  Period. 

Faust  has  mastered  all  the  sciences;  he  has  arrived  at  the 
understanding  of  the  natural  forces  and  their  application, 
and  being  hungry  for  the  spiritual,  and  not  knowing  how  to 
reach  it  divinely,  has  given  himself  over  to  Magic.  This  is 
a  very  distinctive  feature  of  the  Transitional  Period;  the 
consulting  of  spirits  for  earthly  aims  and  to  gratify  earthly 
desires.  Reinforcing  selfishness,  greed  and  sensuality,  by 
the  aid  of  the  demoniac  powers.  Is  any  light  attained  in 
this  manner  ?  Not  so,  but  rather  darkness. 

Look  at  the  wonderful  inventions  of  to-day;  look  at  that 
most  common  fact,  the  cars.  I  never  see  the  bright  eye  of 
the  locomotive  of  the  express  train  in  the  distance,  and  then 
hear  its  tremendous  whirr  and  lightning  rush  but  I  repeat  to 
myself  the  prophetic  description  of  the  strange  object  given 
by  Isaiah  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago — "they  shall 
seem  like  torches;  they  shall  run  like  lightning." 

Boundless  Ophirs  have  been  opened — Californias,  Aus- 
tralias.  They  travel  to  and  fro  throughout  the  earth,  and 
knowledge  is  increased.  The  English  word  "globe  trotter" 
expresses  quite  a  large  class  of  these  runners  to  and  fro;  but 
for  all  this,  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  weary,  so  weary  that  sui- 
cide and  insanity  are  constantly  increasing — and  in  the  poem 
Faust  is  about  to  drink  the  poison  that  shall  end  his  exist- 


[37] 

ence.  All  at  once  he  hears  the  sound  of  those  sweet  Easter 
hymns  that  recall  his  childhood's  old  belief.  He  stays  his 
purpose,  but  the  effect  is  only  transitory.  After  a  while  the 
tempter  comes  to  him  in  a  visible  form,  and  whispers  of  the 
joys  of  sense.  He  breathes  into  him  the  materialistic  spirit, 
which  is  as  indifferent  as  nature  is  to  the  sufferings  of  the 
beings  whom  her  storms  and  tempests  hurl  to  destruction. 
He  speaks  of  Margaret,  plans  their  meetings  under  infernal 
auspices,  and  draws  the  gentle  girl  into  the  fiery  vortex.  Borne 
away  in  a  torrent  of  delirious  feeling,  an  unresisting  victim 
of  the  serpentine  power,  she  sees  but  Faust — everywhere,  his 
form,  the  laughing  glance  of  his  eye,  and  ach  sein  kuss.  He 
drinks  with  her  the  charmed  cup,  and  leaves  her  the  poison- 
ous dregs,  the  pangs,  the  torment;  later,  the  prison  and  the 
scaffold.  Here  is  the  whole  of  the  transitional  period  in  a 
nutshell.  It  has  abandoned  the  old  landmarks  and  given 
itself  over  to  magic.  The  heart  hungers  for  love,  but  the 
woman  who  loves  becomes  the  prey  of  man's  selfishness. 
Woman,  too,  makes  selfish  calculations  on  her  power  of 
magnetic  attraction,  using  it  as  a  means  of  living,  as  a 
means  of  success  in  the  world,  a  mighty  and  cunning  engine 
of  power  over  the  hearts  of  others.  Men  and  women  insanely 
trifle  with  each  other,  and  lay  profane  and  frivolous  hands 
on  the  divine  ark.  Every  newspaper,  the  field  of  observa- 
tion of  every  thoughtful  man  or  woman,  is  filled  with  inci- 
dents that  recall  the  strange  power  of  the  evil  eye  of  the 
Orientals.  A  danc.ing  girl  not  long  ago  had  the  power  to 
send  two  men  to  a  suicide's  grave,  and  one  of  them  ended 
his  existence  over  the  grave  of  the  other.  A  young  Italian 
girl  was  smitten  by  the  same  influence  in  this  city,  and  she, 
too,  ended  her  days  by  poison  in  the  presence  of  her  un- 
worthy lover.  Alas  for  mortality,  when  the  strongest  of  the 
powers  has  us  in  its  grasp,  the  force  which  must  either  be  sub- 
jected to  the  divine  and  made  the  savor  of  life  unto  life,  or 
being  seized  upon  by  the  powers  of  evil,  is  made  the  savor 
of  death  unto  death.  The  charm  of  the  snake  can  only  be 
broken  by  a  divine  counter-charm,  and  this  must  be  done 
before  woman  can  rise  to  her  divinest  position,  and  man  and 
woman  enter  a  paradaisical  condition.^^iiii  nnkfifcod's  anger, 

OFTM 


[38] 

but  his  love,  that  is  going  to  be  the  destructive  agent  to  all 
that  is  opposed  to  eternal  law.  Is  it  anger  that  makes  the 
sword  of  the  patriot  a  destroying  force?  No;  it  is  the  pas- 
sion of  his  love  for  honor,  truth  and  liberty.  The  fever 
excitement  of  the  transitional  period  is  one  effect  of  the 
incoming  tidal  wave  of  divine  love.  Who  shall  dwell  with 
everlasting  burnings  ?  He  that  hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure 
heart. 

Divine  love  is  the  cause  of  the  tribulation  of  the  last 
time,  because  it  burns  up,  urges  and  drives  to  madness 
all  but  those  who  can  walk  through  the  furnace  seven  times 
heated  because  the  Son  of  Man  is  by  their  side.  Woman 
in  the  transitional  period  must  pass  through  the  furnace  of 
passion  changed  by  the  presence  of  the  Son  of  Man  into  the 
warmth  and  radiance  of  divine  love.  She  walks  there  un- 
harmed and  smiling,  because  He  is  by  her  side,  and  there 
is  not  even  the  smell  of  fire  upon  her  garments.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord  in  the  light  and  glory  of  full  sanctification 
is  the  only  refuge  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  light  in  the 
day  that  is  coming  and  is  even  now  here.  A  strong  rock  is 
our  God.  The  fire  of  divine  love  guards  the  access  to  the 
tree  of  life,  watched  over  by  the  cherubim;  hence  the  short- 
ening of  the  days  and  the  years  of  the  life  of  those  who  go 
down  into  the  chambers  of  death,  the  house  of  the  strange 
woman;  hence  the  ability  to  walk  in  the  fire  of  those  three 
who  had  faith  and  feared  not,  realizing  the  promise  that 
"  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  in  My.  name,  there  am  I 
in  the  midst  of  them." 

It  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  present  period  that 
many  men  and  women  find  themselves  alone,  separated. 
Families  are  being  broken  up  as  they  never  were 
before.  Unsuitable  relations  between  men  and  women  are 
becoming  intolerable  to  both  parties.  The  most  ancient 
Indian  book  says  that  woman  is  stronger  than  man;  that  she 
is  an  incarnate  force,  because  man  can  subdue  the  elephant 
and  the  tiger  and  the  natural  world,  but  is  himself  tamed 
and  subdued  by  woman.  This  is  one  side  of  a  great  truth. 
It  is  the  revelation  of  the  feminine  force  of  the  divine  in 
woman  that  is  agitating  the  world  to-day  as  it  was  never  agi- 


[39] 

tated  before.  Man  has  always  dreaded  this,  and  it  has  been 
wisely  held  in  check.  The  disciplines  of  thousands  of  years 
have  been  required  to  do  for  woman  what  the  slavery  of  four 
hundred  years  had  to  teach  the  Hebrews.  Woman  is  now 
about  to  receive  a  new,  God-given  law,  while  she  passes 
through  the  transitional  desert,  ere  she  reaches  the  promised 
land.  It  will  be  no  easy  pilgrimage.  Pilgrim  sisters,  fear 
not;  look  not  back  to  the  succulent  meats  of  Egypt;  cry  not 
out  for  dainty  meats;  say  not,  at  your  peril,  that  your  soul 
loathes  the  light  bread  of  the  wilderness,  else,  verily,  ye 
shall  die  and  not  see  the  promised  land. 

The  most  ancient  East  is  stirred.  European  Theosophists 
in  Bombay  are  affiliating  themselves  with  Asiatic  rites  and 
Indian  magic. 

How  much  more  hopeful  than  this  is  the  great  native  Hin- 
doo movement  of  the  Brahma  Somaj,  which,  being  inter- 
preted, means  Church  of  God.  This,  under  God,  is  awa- 
kening the  Hindoo  heart,  so  long  crushed  under  the  domi- 
nation of  stronger,  or  rather,  coarser  peoples.  It  is  remar- 
rying widows,  bringing  Indian  womanhood  from  the  seclu- 
sion of  the  Zenanas  to  gladsome  light  and  liberty.  The 
Light  of  Asia,  her  awakened  womanhood,  now  steps  forth 
tenderly,  gracefully,  sweetly  into  the  sunlight,  and  blends 
her  oriental  insight  and  loving  devotion  with  the  eagerness 
and  fervor  of  her  western  sisters. 

Mrs.  Booth,  one  of  the  marked  women  of  the  period,  is 
claiming  the  streets  of  London  for  the  Lord,  and  in  con- 
junction with  her  noble  husband  and  children,  is  sending 
forth  battalions  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  light  all  through 
the  world.  They  are  inviting  to  the  supper,  going  into  the 
highways  and  byways  and  compelling  them  to  come  in. 

In  the  hill  country  of  Bassim,  India,  a  woman,  often 
alone  with  her  bands  of  orphans  and  young  girls,  calmly 
fronts  the  hoary  immemorial  religions  and  ancient  temples  and 
goes  forth  singing  and  preaching  through  the  bazaars, bearing 
everywhere  the  banner  of  her  Master.  The  profoundest 
minds  of  England  are  stirred  with  a  love  of  India  and  the 
Indian  people  they  have  held  by  the  sword  so  long.  And 
it  is  time.  Mohammedanism  is  gaining  ground  in  India. 


[40    1 

Village  after  village  is  being  converted  to  that  pitiless  re- 
ligion. The  polygamous  Mormon  is  in  our  midst  to-day 
with  all  the  craft,  cunning  and  sensuality  of  the  polygamous 
Mohammedan.  The  Mormons  have  known  how  to  tame 
woman,  subdue  and  utilize  her,  and  Americans  gaze  upon 
the  spectacle,  some  with  disgust,  others  with  considerable 
inward  satisfaction.  The  toiling  classes  of  England  and 
Scandinavia,  simple,  eager,  honest  and  impulsive,  have  fur- 
nished them  with  splendid  material  for  their  peculiar  system. 
The  Morrisites  made  the  first  break  for  liberty  in  the  Terri- 
tory, led  by  an  inspired  and  remarkable  man.  The  con- 
vincing Mormon  arguments  of  cannon  ball  and  rifle  shot 
poured  for  three  days  into  a  camp  of  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, dispersed  them  and  killed  their  leader.  I  do  not 
know  what  were  the  opinions  of  the  body  of  that  people 
during  their  organization,  and  in  the  lifetime  of  their  leader, 
upon  the  woman  question. 

I  will  now  direct  your  attention  to  a  very  remarkable 
society,  which  lives,  labors  and  flourishes  at  the  present 
day.  God  does  not  work  as  man  works.  He  puts  down  the 
mighty  from  their  seat  and  exalts  the  humble  and  the  meek. 
An  obscure  English  woman,  Ann  Lee,  appeared  about  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  She  was  the  wife  of  a 
blacksmith  and  could  neither  read  nor  write,  yet  she  was 
one  of  the  Pivotal  women  of  the  Transitional  Period.  To 
her  was  unfolded  the  Fatherhood  and  Motherhood  of  God, 
a  doctrine  that  had  been  but  dimly  apparent,  and  is  not 
yet  fully  manifested.  This  doctrine  man,  with  his  intellec- 
tual strength  and  physical  power,  has  almost  overshadowed. 
It  has  become  almost  like  the  pale  shadow  of  the  moon 
around  the  crescent.  This  knowledge  was  placed  in  an 
earthen  vessel  that  it  might  be  manifest  that  the  excel- 
lency of  the  power  was  of  God  and  not  of  man.  It  was 
shown  forth  in  humble  and  almost  grotesque  forms,  that  the 
worldly  and  light-minded  might  not  interfere  with  it  or 
disturb  it. 

Mother  Ann,  as  she  was  affectionately  styled,  was  herself 
the  symbol  of  the  idea  that  was  given  to  her,  though  she 
did  not  know  it.  Ezekiel,  the  prophet,  was  made  a  symbol 


[4i    I 

unto  his  people,  doing  as  the  Lord  commanded  him,  taking 
a  tile  and  portraying  upon  it  the  image  of  Jerusalem,  taking 
an  iron  pot  and  setting  it  for  a  wall  between  himself  and  the 
city,  which  was  portrayed  on  the  tile,  laying  upon  his  side 
and  eating  defiled  bread,  as  the  Lord  commanded  him. 
All  this  must  not  only  have  seemed  silly,  but  disgusting  to 
his  people,  but  he  obeyed.  So  did  Ann  Lee.  She  came  to 
America  with  her  associates,  and  in  faith  and  tribulation 
founded  the  Order  of  Shakers.  The  name  was  attached  to 
them  in  derision,  but  many  a  true  word  has  been  spoken  in 
jest.  It  is  the  practical  revelation  of  the  divine  mother- 
hood in  woman  that  to-day  is  the  cause  of  the  world's  shak- 
ing and  agitation. 

The  associates  set  to  work  humbly  and  lovingly  as  they 
were  shown.  They  cultivated  the  ground,  raised  seeds  and 
plants,  and  were  honest  in  their  dealings.  After  a  while 
their  various  products  acquired  a  commercial  reputation. 
But  it  was  not  time  for  the  truth  to  be  fully  revealed,  and 
so  the  grotesque  dresses,  the  peculiar  dances,  and  various 
other  parts  of  their  discipline,  hid  from  the  eyes  of  the 
multitude  its  immense  significance,  and  preserved  the  light 
burning  like  the  sacred  light  of  Koine,  tended  by  vestal 
hands. 

Ann  Lee  was  a  simple,  truthful,  earnest  woman.  There 
have  been  others  in  this  period  brilliant,  cultured  and 
inspired,  like  our  own  Margaret  Fuller,  and  yet  Brook 
Farm,  which  assembled  some  of  the  most  brilliant  men  and 
women  in  America  to  experiment  upon  community  life,  was 
a  failure,  and  yet  it  was  not  a  failure  to  the  parties  engaged 
in  it.  It  was  probably  a  very  rich  experience.  It  left  noth- 
ing permanent  as  to  the  individual  material  effort, — only  a 
radiance  and  a  warmth  in  literature  and  in  thought,  that 
may  yet  bear  fruit, — but  the  simple  obedience  of  a  poor 
English  woman  has  produced  permanent  and  visible  results. 
Noble  Madame  Eolands  there  have  been,  and  brilliant 
De  Staels,  but  have  they  left  behind  them  so  much  as  Ann 
Lee  did  with  her  one  simple,  noble  title  of  mother  ?  Mother 
and  father  are  the  two  noblest  names  that  can  appertain  to 
humanity,  and  ought  to  be  the  most  consecrated.  The 


mother  in  Elizabeth  of  England,  the  mother  in  Josephine 
of  France  is  what  preserves  their  names  in  lasting  fragrance. 
The  distinctive  Shaker  tenet,  as  expressed  in  the  Shaker 
Roll,  is  that  fleshly  lust,  fed  by  indulgence  and  gratifica- 
tion, will  never  suffer  souls  to  enjoy  harmony  and  union 
farther  than  the  bonds  of  natural  private  families  extend, 
and  even  they  come  short.  It  was  announced  that  the  time 
had  come  when  a  separation  between  flesh  and  spirit  must 
take  place.  It  was  also  said  that  all  associations  that  have 
been  formed  for  temperance  in  eating  and  drinking  are  the 
operations  of  Divine  Providence  in  the  hearts  of  men  to 
prepare  for  mercy  and  judgment.  This  church  was  never 
established  as  a  popular  show  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth,  to  compass  sea  and  land  for  proselytes,  "but  her  people 
were  required  to  embody  their  strength  in  one  united 
capacity,  to  conquer  and  subdue  their  own  evil  natures 
within,  and  gain  a  substance  of  the  true  oil  and  light  of  life 
eternal.  I  have  never  promised  salvation  or  protection  to 
any  souls  except  in  the  path  of  my  revealed  will  and  order. 
I  will  know  no  man  by  his  words,  but  by  his  fruit.  Then 
the  cogent  question  is  asked :  Have  you  found  the  golden 
cord  of  purity  which  binds  souls  in  one,  or  do  the  bands  of 
sin  and  death  yet  surround  you  and  cause  you  to  be  broken 
in  pieces?" 

In  1838,  the  manifestations  of  spirits  in  various  Shaker 
communities  became  frequent,  and  a  vision  of  the  war 
of  the  rebellion  was  given.  April  24,  1862,  it  was  told 
to  a  member  of  the  order  that  fires,  pestilences,  earth- 
quakes and  famines  should  prevail,  and  towns  should  sink; 
also,  that  droughts,  earthquakes,  wind  and  rain  should  de- 
stroy rich-loaded  fields  of  vegetation.  It  was  declared  that 
the  Day  of  Judgment  has  commenced,  and  that  the  late 
universal  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit  among  His  chosen 
people  is  here.  It  was  declared  that  troubles  still  heavier 
than  those  of  the  rebellion  await  the  rulers  and  people  of 
this  country.  The  seer  said:  " I  was  commanded  to  turn 
my  eyes  to  the  north,  and  I  saw  the  inhabitants  walking  to 
and  fro  friendless,  destitute  and  forlorn,  gnawing  their 
tongues  with  anguish  of  soul,  while  their  bodies  were  fam- 


[43  ] 

ishing  with  huDger.  I  looked  to  find  the  Israel  of  God,  and 
beheld,  as  it  were,  wings  gathering  them  together  and  hov- 
ering over  them.  I  observed  that  all  who  gathered  beneath 
these  holy  wings  were  safely  protected,  and  in  a  low 
and  pleasant  \ale,  united  as  in  one  body.  Your  noble 
dwellings,  where  men  have  dwelt  in  ease  and  indolence,  shall 
be  places  where  food  shall  be  prepared  for  the  servants  of 
God,  and  sweet  industry  shall  reign.  In  many  an  unfin- 
ished shed,  in  barns  and  cottages  of  the  poorest  peasant, 
shall  the  power,  mercy  and  justice  of  God  be  displayed, and 
His  word  loudly  echo:  To  the  meanest  hovel  shall  some 
of  the  most  renowned  on  earth  yet  gather,  and  on  their 
bended  knees  seek  the  forgiveness  of  their  God  and  humbly 
beg  for  his  mercy,  and  by  those  whom  they  once  disdained 
to  comfort  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  shall  they  be  fed 
with  the  imperishable  bread  of  Heaven." 

Such  are  some  of  the  Shaker  prophecies  of  events  to  occur 
in  the  Transitional  Period.  Some  of  them  have  been  ful- 
filled; others  are  yet  in  the  future. 

This  is  a  period  of  strange  and  eventful  lives,  of  wonder- 
ful illuminations,  of  singular  splendors,  like  our  crim- 
son sunsets  with  their  glows  and  after  glows  of  changeful 
colors. 

The  Communion  of  Saints,  which  we  are  privileged  to 
enjoy,  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  comes  to 
those  who  open  their  hearts  to  invite  it,  the  bliss  and  peace 
of  sanctification,  is  our  preparation  for  these  trial  times. 
These  times  of  struggle  and  sorrow  will  bind  women  more 
strongly  to  each  other;  they  will  be  more  helpful  to  each 
other.  The  great  temperance  movement  is  energized  by 
woman's  efforts  and  her  prayers,  in  private  and  in  public 
works.  Oh,  what  a  divine  blessing  is  being  poured  out  on 
some  of  our  churches;  what  a  blessing  is  being  poured 
forth  outside  of  our  churches.  I  tremble,  yet  rejoice  ex- 
ceedingly. It  is  the  Pentecostal  blessing  before  the  tribu- 
lation. What  is  light  and  warmth  to  us  is  fire  and  destruc- 
tion to  the  elements  opposed  to  us.  Our  God  is  Love,  but 
He  is  a  consuming  fire,  and  yet  a  place  of  light,  warmth 
and  blessedness.  Hence,  the  anger  and  persecution  a  Pen- 


[  44  ] 

tecostal  period  is  apt  to  bring  on  the  part  of  those  opposed 
to  it. 

Women  are  pressing  forward  in  many  departments  of  in- 
dustry, showing  the  way  in  which  we  may  work  and  provide 
for  the  imminent  future — in  silk  culture,  horticulture,  and 
even  agriculture. 

Thrice  blessed  are  they  who  are  seeking  to  rekindle  the 
light  of  home  in  all  the  various  departments  of  woman's 
work.  A  true  woman  does  not  love  the  heartless  crowding 
of  the  factory.  She  is  willing  to  work,  if  she  can  only  have 
a  home,  and  homes  are  the  price  of  industry. 

The  two  great  women  writers  of  France  and  England,  who, 
strangely  enough,  in  their  published  works  appear  under  the 
names  of  George  Sand  and  George  Eliot,  were  women  of  the 
period,  passionate,  fervid  and  suffering.  George  Sand  lived 
her  life  and  left  us  Consuelo,  the  sublime  portrait  of  a  woman 
who  overcame  through  love,  who  gave  grace  to  poverty,  and 
joyfully  accepted  renunciation.  George  Eliot  left  us  Eomola, 
a  heroine  of  the  cross,  yoked  together  unequally  with  the 
fickle,  false  and  sensuous  Tito,  but  triumphing  through  love 
and  patience  even  in  apparent  defeat.  The  difficulty  is  in 
selecting  the  marked  women  of  the  transitional  period,  so  rap- 
idly and  strongly  is  it  calling  forth  the  feminine  in  every 
department — the  heroines  of  anti-slavery,  the  heroines  of 
temperance,  the  valiant  soldiers  and  officers  of  the  Salvation 
Army,  the  heroines  of  revolt  against  oppression  throughout 
the  world. 

The  surging  tide  of  the  feminine  is  everywhere  rising  in 
obedience  to  the  attraction  of  the  heavenly  powers,  as  the 
tides  of  the  sea  rise  to  the  attraction  of  the  moon. 

Eomola  and  Consuelo  represent  woman  in  the  epoch  of 
transition,  sustained  by  the  divine  ideal.  Consuelo  smooths 
the  road  for  her  beloved  Albert,  who  struggles  with  the 
blindness  of  his  age  and  its  want  of  comprehension  of  the 
divine  truth  that  fills  his  soul.  She  stands  by  his  side,  and 
their  work  and  love  is  equal  and  happy.  Kornola  walks 
alone,  sweet  and  silent,  and  tames  her  proud  heart  to  fulfill 
her  lowly  mission. 

In  a  mild  day  of  March,  passing  a  warm,  sunny  nook,  the 


[45] 

sense  is  smitten  with  a  sudden  fragrance,  and  looking  down, 
a  thicket  of  rich  blue  blossoms  appears  near  an  old  tree 
stump;  so  comes  the  fragrance  of  the  lives  of  some  of  the 
women  of  the  transitional  epoch,  often  very  humble  ones, 
violets  hidden  beneath  the  leaves,  but  they  say  that  summer 
is  coming. 

Modern  Spiritualism  has  called  forth  a  majority  of  women 
into  its  ranks  as  its  exponents.  All  classes  and  conditions 
of  spirits  have  returned,  eager  to  demonstrate  their  pres- 
ence. It  has  been  a  living  protest  against  the  materialism 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  which  almost  denied  the  existence 
of  spirit  or  of  life  beyond  the  tomb. 

Many  years  ago  a  woman  appeared  in  Dodworth's  Hall, 
New  York,  for  a  short  time.  She  was  very  beautiful — a  pure 
Greek  face  and  wealth  of  golden  hair.  She  spoke  ably, 
logically  and  most  eloquently,  before  a  large  audience  of 
some  of  the  most  cultured  and  thoughtful  people  of  that  city. 
After  the  lecture  she  answered  many  questions  that  were 
put  to  her,  most  satisfactorily  to  the  questionersf  Yet  |hat 
woman  had  but  a  few  weeks  before  graduated,  not  from  col- 
lege, but  from  the  housemaid's  broom  and  dust-pan.  I  have 
never  heard  of  her  since.  Cora  Richmond  has  been  for  forty 
years  a  channel  of  communication  with  the  unseen  world, 
and  has  faithfully  and  gracefully  fulfilled  her  mission. 

Some  years  ago  a  woman  flashed  like  a  meteor  through 
the  land.  She  had  known  the  depths  of  poverty.  She  had 
known  the  insult  and  degradation  of  a  neglected  and  for- 
saken wife.  She  inherited  an  intense  and  passionate  tem- 
perament. She  identified  herself  with  modern  Spiritualism 
and  became  its  president;  not  only  so,  but  she  laid  hands 
on  Wall  street,  and  she  and  her  sister  opened  a  stock  broker's 
office  there.  She  also  published  a  paper  which  at  that  time 
attracted  great  attention.  Then  she  stirred  the  people  in 
the  lecture  field,  and  astonished  even  the  reporters  by  her 
beauty  and  her  boldness.  Individuality  and  the  power  of 
the  will  of  unsanctified  womari  never  had  a  more  fitting  or 
splendid  representative;  but  the  rocket  sent  up  its  swift 
flame,  and  came  down  in  splendid  stars,  and  that  was  all; 
so  much  apparent  achievement,  so  fine  a  light,  and  yet  no 


1 46  ] 

line  of  radiance  left  after  it — so  it  was  with  Victoria  Wood- 
hull. 

The  media  of  the  spirit  would  come  with  no  direct  mes- 
sage like  the  prophets  of  old.  They  are  liable  to  be  some- 
what contradictory  in  their  assertions.  They  are  Eolian 
harps,  played  upon  by  breathings  from  the  unseen.  They 
speak  of  lives,  conditions  and  surroundings,  sometimes 
those  of  near  and  dear  ones,  in  a  land  far  off  and  yet  so 
near.  If  the  creatures  that  sing  and  fly  could  communicate 
with  the  finny  inhabitants  of  the  deep,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  convey  to  the  fishes  the  way  in  which  birds  exist.  So  we 
must  wait  for  our  own  translation  fully  to  realize  it.  We 
know  that  what  makes  our  joy  here  will  make  our  joy  or 
sorrow  there.  There  is  a  dual  force  in  that  world  as  in  this. 
There  are  voices  that  come  to  us  unsought,  sweet,  and  calm, 
and  fragrant  with  the  gales  of  Heaven,  but  when  driven  by 
the  winds  of  earthly  desires,  to  seek  wilder  gales  of  spirit 
force  to  waft  us  to  our  desired  haven,  we  risk  loss  and  ship- 
wreck. I  will  say,  with  sorrow,  that  some  utterances  I  have 
heard  from  mediumistic  persons  remind  me  more  of  inspi- 
rations from  angels  who  have  lost  their  first  estate  from 
willfulness  and  disobedience  than  of  anything  divine.  There 
is  a  proud  boast  of  human  will  and  of  what  is  called  individu- 
ality, such  as  Lucifer  might  have  displayed.  The  unbridled 
human  will  is  the  fittest  channel  for  demoniac  possession. 

Spiritualistic  literature  does  not  thrill  me  like  the  burdens 
of  the  Bible  old.  Emerson  says: 

The  litanies  of  nations  came 
Like  the  volcano's  tongue  of  flame 
Out  from  the  burning  core  below, 
The  canticles  of  love  and  woe. 

A  French  writer  says:  "  Thought  and  passion  is  the  de- 
structive social  element.  It  is  only  by  moderating  the 
social  activity  of  a  people  that  we  can  insure  its  longevity. '' 
To-day  all  the  forces  are  at  work  to  stir  up  thought  and 
passion  in  every  class  of  society,  even  among  those  who  have 
remained  most  solidly  entrenched  by  ages  of  inertia,  like 
the  peasants  of  Eussia.  Devoted  spirits,  educated  and 


[  47  1 

wealthy  men  and  women,  and  others  are  active  in  the  revo- 
lutionary propaganda,  even  among  this  seemingly  impene- 
trable class.  It  is  the  period  of  struggle  from  the  old  to 
the  new,  and  we  are  all  more  or  less  feeling  its  unrest. 

The  various  reforms  in  which  the  upheaving  world  spirit 
is  trying  to  assert  itself,  give  woman  freedom. 

Nihilism  emancipated  woman,  and  in  return  it  owes  much 
to  the  fervor  and  devotion  of  woman.  All  forms  of  labor 
agitation  and  social  reform  bring  woman  to  the  front,  and 
so  do  the  advanced  inspirations  of  religious  thought  and 
religious  work. 

Men  and  women  of  the  world  held  up  surprised  hands, 
because  a  band  of  Hallelujah  Lasses  were  selling  War  Crys 
in  the  streets  of  Paris,  and  yet  they  could  very  complacently 
see  bands  of  young  girls  trained  to  the  service  of  the  flesh 
nightly  in  every  theatre  in  Paris. 

Let  woman  come  to  the  front  for  God  and  humanity. 
Who  art  thou  that  judgest  another  man's  servant  ?  To  his 
own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth ! 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

THE  NEW  DISPENSATION. 

There  is  a  Restoration  which  is  the  theme  of  all  prophetic 
song — a  time  of  peace  and  harmony — when  no  galley  with 
oars,  or  gallant  war-ship  shall  pass  up  the  place  of  broad 
rivers  and  streams,  where  the  children  of  the  kingdom 
dwell  under  the  full  manifestation  of  its  glories.  The  way- 
faring man  that  passes  by,  however  simple  he  may  be,  can- 
not miss  his  way.  There  will  be  no  tramps  or  vagabonds  in 
the  ordered  kingdom  of  love.  A  period  of  very  severe  trial 
is  said  to  precede  this  manifestation  of  the  day  of  the  Lord, 
and  also  the  appearance  of  an  Individual  who  is  called  the 
Man  of  Sin,  who  in  his  estate  honors  the  god  of  forces,  the 
power  and  strength  of  armies,  and  despises  the  desire  of 
woman  for  freedom  and  representation,  which  desire  holds 
the  germ  of  the  coming  kingdom,  which  shall  supersede  his 
violence  and  brutality. 

A  few  isolated  lives  of  men  and  women  have  given  us  a 
foretaste  of  the  sweetness  and  grandeur  of  these  times. 
They  have  been  like  hot-house  blooms  in  winter,  but  in  the 
springtide  of  the  New  Dispensation,  meadow  and  hillside 
shall  be  one  carpet  of  blossoms. 

Dr.  James  Hughes  says:  "The  time  is  come  when  man 
on  this  planet  is  required  by  the  eternal  law  of  progression 
to  receive  new  light  and  wisdom  and  new  loves,  through  the 
agency  of  new  conditions.  Man  has  plucked  almost  all  the 
fruits  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  and  partaken  so  freely  of 
that  which  gratifies  his  egotism,  that  he  is  contemplating 
enthroning  himself  as  God — the  cause  and  end  of  all  things." 
There  is  a  spiritual  law  to  which  all  things,  whether  in 
heaven  or  on  earth,  must  yield  obedience.  The  changes  and 
new  conditions  which  are  approaching  are  the  effects  of  this 
divine  law.  Man  to  receive  knowledge  must  slay  innocence, 
therefore  innocence  is  represented  as  a  lamb  slain  from  the 


I    49  1 

foundation  of  the  world.  Experience  is  a  progressive  step 
to  learn  to  know.  In  advancing  in  the  dark,  the  feelings  of 
innocence  had  to  be  suppressed,  therefore  was  she  slain; 
but  innocence  must  revive  again.  The  lion  knowledge,  and 
the  lamb  innocence,  will  lie  down  together  and  unite  in  har- 
mony. This  point  is  reached  whenever  man  has  trulv 
learned  himself,  his  relations  to  God  and  his  fellow  man  and 
universal  nature.  Then  will  he  from  his  dear-bought  expe- 
rience receive  purity,  which  is  sanctification,  for  knowledge 
will  teach  its  necessity  for  individual  happiness.  Purity  is 
innocence  clothed  upon  with  all  the  virtues,  made  manifest 
to  the  world  in  the  practical  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
Changes  in  all  human  affairs  are  being  rapidly  effected  under 
the  controlling  power  delegated  to  Him.  These  changes 
commence  with  gigantic  wars,  and  all  who  seek  not  the 
honor  of  God  by  manifesting  peace  on  earth  and  good  will 
to  men,  will  be  drawn  within  their  terrible  effects.  When 
earthly  governments  are  overthrown,  anarchy  will  reign 
supreme.  Then  will  God,  through  human  agencies,  bring 
order  out  of  disorder,  light  out  of  darkness,  and  establish 
His  government  under  Jesus,  which  will  reach  forth  to  all 
things  in  earth  or  heaven.  Then  will  the  Dragon,  which  is 
disorderly  spiritualism,  be  chained,  and  the  world  thereby 
reduced  to  its  right  mind.  Happy  those  who  are  prepared 
with  the  armor  of  God  while  this  day  of  trial  is  passing 
through  the  world! 

The  jusb  province  or  prerogative  of  government  is,  first, 
to  educate  the  people  in  knowledge,  both  physical,  intellec- 
tual, and  spiritual.  Secondly,  to  guard  against  all  impro- 
prieties and  infractions  of  these  laws;  and  thirdly,  to  sus- 
tain, stimulate,  and  gratify  the  numerous  faculties  and  noble 
aspirations  of  the  soul  or  mind,  thereby  contributing  to  in- 
dividual and  universal  happiness. 

The  first  requisite  in  those  who  exercise  government  is 
wisdom  and  love,  the  next  is  power,  and  the  third  is  system 
or  order.  The  science  of  true  government  is  perfect  and 
sublime.  The  knowledge  of  the  true  principles  on  which 
a  righteous  government  is  to  be  established  has  not  even 
reached  man's  comprehension  in  all  its  beauty  and  harmony. 


[  5°  1 

For  had  it  been  understood,  it  would  have  manifested  itself. 
It  is  man's  most  perfect  attainment,  and  must  therefore  be 
victorious,  and  subdue  all  other  governments.  This  condi- 
tion not  existing,  it  is  evident  that  the  science  of  govern- 
ment is  not  solved. 

The*true  elements  of  government  are  contained  within  the 
constitution  of  man's  own  nature,  slumbering  until  devel- 
oped by  the  practice  of  his  most  noble  energies,  placing  him  in 
communion  with  the  wisdom  of  the  Highest.  "The  kingdom 
of  God  is  within  you."  The  divine  mystery  of  government  will 
be  revealed  and  its  power  acknowledged  in  all  the  earth. 
For  the  wise  and  true  must,  by  inherent  law,  subdue  the 
unwise  and  untrue.  Having  emanated  from  the  Highest, 
and  being  received  into  the  most  perfect  faculties  of  man, 
it  is  loving,  therefore  powerful;  it  is  wise,  therefore  just;  it 
is  true,  therefore  enduring. 

The  government  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ  is 
placed  on  an  immovable  basis,  and  will  meet  the  aspirations 
of  all  the  wise  and  good  of  mankind. 

This  power  will  destroy  the  soul  of  evil. 

When  man  receives  and  assimilates  the  divine  female  aura 
of  beauty  and  order,  and  when  woman  receives  and  assimi- 
lates the  masculine  inspiration  of  wisdom,  then  do  they  come 
into  one  equal  and  harmonious  platform,  and  enter  into  a 
paradisiacal  condition. 

The  crowning  element  of  wisdom  by  which  the  feminine 
development  is  matured,  is  resident  in  and  belonging  to  the 
male  department  of  humanity.  Woman  eliminates  a  spirit- 
ual aura  or  pabulum  for  the  sustenance  of  man's  actions, 
energies,  and  perfections.  She  is  more  accessible  to  the 
angelic  influences  from  whence  is  derived  this  pabulum  or 
food  of  maa.  By  partaking  of  this  he  is  made  capable  of 
receiving  a  superior  inspiration  above  that  of  woman,  which 
is  divine  wisdom.  Woman  is  accessible  to  this  through 
man.  Thus  the  circle  is  divinely  formed.  Woman  is  man's 
helpmate.  She  is  the  mother  and  source  of  man's  most  no- 
ble acts,  as  if  she  had  directly  performed  them  herself.  In 
this  way  man's  noblest  thoughts  and  feelings  have  their  ori- 
gin in  woman.  Nature  and  God  have  constituted  her  to 


1 51  ] 

supply  the  pabulum  for  man's  nourishment,  both  physically 
and  mentally.  Man  receives  his  mental  and  physical  growth 
from  woman.  He  is  the  ripened  fruit  bearing  seed,  giving 
the  finish  to  art,  philosophy,  government,  and  religion. 
Man's  love  is  of  a  different  nature  from  that  of  woman.  It 
is  alimentative,  acquisitive,  and  appropriative.  Tl?e  true 
position  of  man  and  woman  is  ordained  and  unalterably 
fixed  by  God  and  Nature.  The  work  of  the  new  government 
will  be  perfectly  finished  by  man  under  divine  leadership, 
through  and  by  woman's  inspiring  influence,  proceeding 
quietly  and  powerfully  from  her  formative  soul.  It  is  the 
man — child  born  of  the  woman — the  world  is  thrilled  with 
the  hope  of  this  birth. 

The  intuitive  faculties  of  woman  have  felt  and  realized  the 
fact  of  great  wrongs  existing  in  all  governments.  They  re- 
alize a  restlestness  and  apprehension  of  some  strange  revo- 
lution about  to  be  inaugurated. 

Liberty  dawned  in  America  and  France,  and  lit  within 
the  heart  of  man  a  lively  hope  stimulating  him  to  heroic  acts 
and  deeds  of  glory,  establishing  political  freedom  through 
most  of  this  western  continent.  Next  came  the  star  of 
science  distilling  its  fructifying  influence,  evolving  new  and 
astounding  powers  in  machinery,  and  explorations  of  natu- 
ral phenomena.  The  superior  faculties  have  caught  the 
glow  sufficient  to  receive  from  the  higher  spheres  a  proph- 
ecy of  something  new  and  radical  to  be  accomplished  in 
governments. 

Look  at  the  insect  world — see  the  unvarying  perfection  of 
the  habitations  of  the  bees,  their  cells  and  systematic  gov- 
ernment. Those  perfect  octagons  are  formed  without  line 
or  compass.  If  we  attribute  this  to  their  own  intelligence, 
we  must  admit  that  it  equals  if  it  does  not  exceed  that  of  the 
most  accomplished  human  workman.  These  perfect  cells 
are  formed  without  experience  or  instruction,  and  never  vary. 
It  is  instinctive  automatic  action — but  man's  intelligence  is 
amplified  with  an  individual  sense  of  power  and  growth. 
His  perfection  is  gradual. 

Man's  vast  horizon  is  not  spanned  even  by  himself.  He 
does  not  know  his  own  possibilities.  His  intelligence  has 


[  52  1 

its  source  outside  of  particled  matter,  for  all  combinations 
of  particled  matter  are  decomposable,  therefore  mortal;  but 
man's  intelligence,  from  its  power  of  control  over  matter  in 
all  its  varied  forms,  and  from  its  aspirations  totally  distinct 
from  the  automatic  instincts  of  animal  life,  proves  itself  to 
be  immortal. 

Were  it  possible  for  man  by  any  analytical  means  to  ascer- 
tain the  quality  of  life  and  motion,  it  would  be  found  to 
consist  of  the  most  real  substance  within  the  regions  of 
unbounded  existence.  From  its  virtue  all  things  exist,  in 
primitive,  qualitative,  relative  order. 

Love  consolidates  worlds.  Intellect,  unassisted  by  wis- 
dom and  the  feminine  power  of  love,  cannot  grasp  the  prob- 
lem of  a  just  and  righteous  government,  or  be  prepared  to 
realize  it.  Intellect  does  not  always  prepare  the  mind  for 
the  reception  of  wisdom.  When  intellect  is  wisely  and 
divinely  cultivated  it  bows  before  wisdom,  and  receives  her 
as  the  cultivated  field  receives  the  rain. 

Until  man  can  realize  the  blending  and  co-operation  of 
Wisdom,  Knowledge,  Power  and  Love  in  a  harmonious 
union  of  its  masculine  and  feminine  expressions  and  earthly 
embodiments,  the  world  will  never  be  blessed  with  a  true  and 
righteous  government. 

When  the  masculine  and  feminine  elements  become  sub- 
ject to  the  guidance  of  Wisdom  and  Love  under  divine  lead- 
ership, they  will  constitute  the  foundation  elements  on  which 
to  base  a  righteous  government. 

Under  such  an  administration  men  and  women  would  be- 
come new  beings,  manifesting  the  glory  and  beauty  of  their 
exalted  nature,  establishing  peace,  joy  and  happiness,  and 
acknowledging  the  honor,  dominion  and  power  of  those  who 
in  heavenly  places  have  replaced  the  dominion  of  the  evil 
powers  who  have  held  sway  so  long. 

Uncomprehended  faculties  exist  within  us,  which,  when 
developed,  will  place  us  in  happy  contact  with  superior  na- 
tures and  superior  wisdom.  No  one  will  be  required  to  do 
more  than  they  can  accomplish  with  perfect  satisfaction  to 
mind  and  body.  Eeason,  knowledge,  wisdom  and  love  will 
fraternize  and  preside  over  all  the  relations  of  life.  A  gov- 


ernment  to  effect  harmony  and  give  universal  satisfaction 
has,  up  to  this  time,  not  been  possible.  The  same  restless, 
ambitious  character  of  mind  that  crept  into  one  government 
and  upset  it,  creeps  into  another.  Whatever  political  party 
may  arise  from  the  turbid  sea  of  present  conditions  will  pro- 
duce the  same  results,  and  therefore  fail  to  meet  human 
needs. 

The  aspirations  and  intuitive  feelings,  rightly  directed, 
are  the  only  base  on  which  a  permanent  and  righteous  gov- 
ernment can  be  predicated.  These  attributes  require  care- 
ful education  and  instruction  from  potent  principles  of  pow- 
er, love,  wisdom  and  order — under  whose  teachings  the 
wild,  erratic  ideas  of  power  and  dominion  at  present  pre- 
vailing, will  be  reduced  to  a  system  of  order,  re-arranging 
and  completely  inverting  their  present  mode  of  action. 

Inrjividualization  will  be  changed  into  nationalization. 
Instead  of  government  being  as  now,  an  institution  organ- 
ized for  the  protection  of  individual  property,  it  will  become 
the  custodian  of  national  possessions. 

We  have  had  power  without  wisdom.  We  have  had  wisdom 
and  love  manifested  without  power.  The  world  has  not  yet 
been  blessed  by  a  leader  exercising  both  power  and  love. 
Jesus  was  possessed  of  wisdom  and  love,  but  suffered  the  ex- 
ercise of  power  to  lie  dormant.  His  most  glorious  victory 
was  an  apparent  defeat;  and  his  followers  walk  now  by  faith 
not  by  sight.  In  his  coming  kingdom  he  will  manifest  him- 
self with  power  as  well  as  love.  Men  will  then  understand 
how  to  exercise  thoso  leading  qualities,  the  love  of  honor 
and  the  love  of  power.  The  places  in  that  kingdom  are 
prepared  in  accordance  with  eternal  law,  and  are  yielded 
neither  to  favoritism  nor  to  earthly  affection. 

Woman  can  never  take  her  place  in  old  and  fast-decaying 
existing  institutions.  She  is  a  revolutionary  force  to  de- 
stroy them.  They  cannot  be  mended.  Years  ago  I  had  to 
say  this  to  friends  who  were  deeply  interested  in  the  suffrage 
movement.  All  my  life,  from  my  earliest  recollection,  I 
have  had  to  say  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  true,  and  it  has 
almost  always  brought  me  in  opposition  to  the  ideas  of  those 
I  most  loved  and  valued.  This  has  been  a  very  great  trial. 


[  54] 

Woman  is  the  soul  of  every  revolutionary  movement.  She 
is  impelled  by  a  divine  rage  to  right  the  wrongs  of  ages,  not 
always  wisely,  for  she  does  not  see  the  whole  of  the  pro- 
gramme, but  with  an  unshrinking,  fiery  earnestness  to  do 
her  part  as  she  sees  it  in  the  present  stress  and  direful  ne- 
cessity. Woman  must  appear  more  distinctively  as  mother, 
in  all  the  grace  and  sweetness  of  that  character. 

For  more  than  a  thousand  years  Mother  Mary  has  been 
held  up  before  the  eyes  of  the  people.  She  has  responded 
to  the  Infinite  ideal,  and  represented  the  Divine  Mother- 
hood. The  sorrowing  human  soul  for  centuries  has 
sought  refuge  in  her  bosom.  This  idea,  based  upon  an  in- 
finite truth,  has  been  the  strength  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
The  stern  reformers,  the  John  Knoxes  and  the  Calvins,  who 
trampled  upon  Mariolatry,  did  not  fully  understand  what 
they  were  doing.  Mary  was  but  a  symbol  of  the  Divine 
Motherhood.  This  has  been  held  up  before  the  people  as 
some  far-off,  distant  thing,  but  it  is  not  so.  It  is  near  to 
us — even  at  our  very  door.  This  idea  has  to  be  taken  from 
the  traditions  of  the  past,  and  revealed  in  the  living  pres- 
ent. We  are  the  daughters  of  God,  but  it  doth  not  yet 
appear  what  we  shall  be.  We  must  not  expect  much  help 
in  man  with  his  purely  masculine  traditions.  Like  Joseph, 
he  will  be  often  minded  to  put  us  away  privily.  Sanctified, 
redeemed  woman  can  only  come  up  to  her  position  in  the 
New  Dispensation.  Till  then  we  walk  by  faith,  not  by 
sight. 

The  suffrage  movement  is  a  call  from  God,  through 
woman,  to  revolutionize  and  re-arrange  society  and  gov- 
ernments in  all  essentials.  It  is  a  cry  that  is  being  heard 
throughout  the  world.  Its  meaning  is,  "Prepare  ye  the  way 
of  the  Lord,  and  make  his  paths  straight." 

The  true  order  and  position  of  man  and  woman  is  unal- 
terably fixed  by  God  and  nature.  Man  can  do  nothing  for 
his  elevation  or  degradation  without  woman.  Through  her 
he  is  degraded  to  the  chambers  of  death,  or  raised  to  life 
and  light.  It  is  her  prerogative,  power  and  nature  to  elim- 
enate  the  spirit  of  all  man's  actions,  as  it  is  to  eliminate 
their  material  bodies. 


[55  1 

Her  intuitions  are  swift,  and  often  true,  but  her  ambition, 
pride  and  selfishness  has  been  the  cause  of  unutterable  woe 
to  mankind;  for  this  she  owes  humanity  an  incalculable 
debt. 

He  is  neither  a  statesman  nor  an  enlightened  man  who 
cannot  appreciate  and  be  touched  by  woman's  call  for  lib- 
erty, truth,  justice  and  temperance.  Many  suppose  that  this 
call  arises  from  a  desire  for  personal  advancement,  and  to 
obtain  liberty  and  security  from  oppression.  It  is  true  that 
this  is  the  object  of  the  agitation,  and  it  will  be  accom- 
plished, but  in  a  different  manner  and  through  different 
means  to  what  is  expected.  Let  not  woman  destroy  the 
serenity  of  her  soul  in  present  political  conflicts.  She  does 
not  belong  to  Caesar,  but  to  God. 

The  external  in  nature,  containing  the  attributes  of  wis- 
dom, strength,  beauty  and  order,  corresponds  to  the  mas- 
culine. The  sphere  ot  the  feminine  corresponds  with  the 
internal  or  interior. 

The  beautiful,  enviable  powers  and  forces  contained  in 
magnetism,  electricity,  affinity,  attraction,  and  many  others, 
we  will  call  feminine  or  internal.  Man  is  the  external,  and 
like  all  external  nature,  he  is  the  complement,  or  that 
which  proceeds  from  the  internal.  Man  is  born  of  woman, 
as  the  grain  is  born  of  the  earth. 

If  the  mother  side  of  the  Elohim  is  not  recognized  by  us 
to-day,  it  is  not  because  it  is  not  revealed  in  every  pulse- 
beat  and  symbol,  but  from  our  incapacity  to  apprehend  it. 
Man  is  the  ultimate  fruit  containing  the  perfection  of  na- 
ture. Woman  is  the  cause  of  all  perfection  in  man,  un- 
derlying by  silent,  potent  forces,  all  manifestations  of  his 
beauty  and  deformity,  his  perfection  and  imperfection. 
Let  her,  as  the  mother  of  humanity,  purify  and  cultivate 
love,  tenderness,  truth,  charity,  justice,  inspiring  hope  and 
faith,  and  a  determination  to  make  manifest  and  develop  the 
truths  and  principles  relating  to  jutice,  order  and  religion, 
that  have  not  yet  been  manifested. 

Eaise  thy  head,  oh,  suffering  Humanity,  for  the  time  will 
come  when  these  principles  will  be  understood  and  acted 
on  in  the  kingdom  of  peace.  Then  will  terror  be  driven 


[  56  ] 

away,  then  will  balm  be  poured  into  thy  wounds,  then  will 
end  thy  pain ;  beauty  will  be  given  for  ashes,  and  life  im- 
mortal for  death.  The  victory  over  death  will  be  made  man- 
ifest in  an  orderly,  divine  manner.  Even  as  Christ  over- 
came so  shall  we. 

Dear  Humanity,  live  in  hope;  raise  up  thy  tearful  eyes. 
Liberty,  the  fair  daughter  of  wisdom,  has  baptized  the 
world  with  a  few  scintillations  of  divine  glory  not  yet 
understood,  and  known  only  by  few.  Many  think  that  they 
are  of  her  counsels  and  fighting  under  her  banner,  but  they 
know  her  not. 

Unprecedented  prosperity  and  luxury  have  frenzied  the 
heart  and  brain  of  the  rulers  of  this  nation.  They  are  adorn- 
ing our  groves  and  public  places  with  the  marble  and  bronze 
statues  of  the  founders  of  the  republic.  They  are  looking 
on  the  Constitution  they  framed  as  capable  of  endurance 
forever.  We  are  exalting  the  instruments  of  support  lent  to 
us  in  our  weakness  into  gods  to  be  worshiped.  We  are  at 
ease  in  our  possessions,  while  the  cries  of  the  poor  and  mis- 
guided are  entering  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  God  of 
Sabbaoth.  One  rustling  of  the  starry  robes  of  Liberty  is 
sufficient  to  alarm  the  proud,  whose  eyes  are  dimmed  by  the 
dust  of  gold,  and  who  are  blinded  by  the  lust  of  official 
power.  There  is  no  fixed  point  immovable,  not  even  the 
Constitution  and  Declaration  of  Independence.  .We  are  for- 
ever moving  nearer  to  the  fountain  of  love  and  wisdom,  or 
sinking  away  further  from  it.  God  was  the  teacher  of  our 
fathers;  from  the  same  source  we  may  derive  yet  higher 
inspirations  on  laws  and  government. 

Hear  what  Mazzini  says:  "Humanity  is  wandering  in  the 
void,  seeking  the  new  bond  destined  to  link  together  in  reli- 
gious harmony  all  the  individual  beliefs,  presentiments  and 
activities  now  lost  in  the  isolation  of  doubt.  It  invokes  and 
foresees  the  coming  of  a  vaster  unity  destined  to  combine  in 
holy  harmony  the  two  terms  tradition  and  conscience;  a 
unity  which,  starting  from  the  foot  of  the  cross,  shall  gather 
together  all  the  various  religions  in  one  sole  people  of 
believers.  All  the  political  questions  that  occupy  the 
nations  can  only  be  set  at  rest  by  the  solution  of  this  prob- 


[  57  ] 

lem."  In  another  place  he  says :  '*Seek  in  woman  not  merely 
a  comfort,  but  a  force,  the  redoubling  of  your  intellectual 
and  moral  faculties." 

Without  his  profoundly  religious  convictions,  Mazzini 
could  never  have  been  sustained  in  his  life  of  duty  and  sac- 
rifice. 

Without  a  profound  idea  of  duty  and  simple  faith  and 
obedience,  woman  can  never  arrive  at  her  sublime  place  in 
the  New  Dispensation.  By  discipline,  by  trial  and  sorrow, 
many  are  beginning  to  see  and  realize  this,  aspiring  to  be- 
come godlike  instead  of  being  dwarfed,  and  to  reach  the 
proportions  of  true  womanhood  as  well  as  true  manhood  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Some  of  us  fail  sadly  in  reaching  our  ideal, 
but  every  mistake  and  error  and  failure  keeps  us  learning 
more  what  we  might  be.  Our  ideas  of  what  sanctification 
demands  will  enlarge  and  become  more  deep  and  profound 
as  we  realize  its  practical  bearing  in  all  the  relations  of  life, 
particularly  in  the  sanctity  of  the  sexual  relation.  We  are 
called  to  ascend  into  the  kingdom  of  pure  love  and  complete 
victory.  Nothing  is  colder  than  sensuality;  nothing  is 
warmer  than  divine  love.  There  is  much  to  combat  till 
children  are  rightly  born.  We  bear  a  weight  of  ancestral 
traditions  and  misdirections.  Woman  has  to  leave  much 
behind  her  when  she  turns  her  face  towards  Paradise. 

The  Hebrew  prophecies  are  full  of  grand  and  cheering 
visions  of  the  New  Dispensation;  sad  and  mournful  burdens 
of  sorrow  for  failure  and  weakness,  alternate  with  joyful 
anthems  and  victorious  paeans  of  final  victory. 
.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  he  records 
his  vision  of  a  magnificent  house,  which  appears  to  have 
been  connected  with  a  temple,  and  yet  separated  from  it. 
This  house  was  spacious,  conveniently  constructed,  of  noble 
proportions,  with  halls,  courts,  and  galleries;  and  what  ap- 
pears to  have  impressed  the  mind  of  the  seer,  was  that  the 
triumphal  palm  was  the  ornament  and  distinguishing  feature 
of  the  decoration  of  its  glorious  chambers  and  stately  porti- 
cos; palm  trees  everywhere,  on  windows,  arch,  and  gate, 
and  even  on  the  posts  of  the  doors.  It  was  orderly  and 
beautiful;  on  the  south  were  the  dwellings  of  tho  priests 


[58] 

having  charge  of  the  house,  and  on  the  north  the  dwellings 
of  the  priests  having  charge  of  the  altar.  But  in  all  this  the 
seer  saw  no  sign  of  present  human  habitation,  for  it  was  the 
vision  of  things  yet  to  be. 

After  he  had  seen  the  house,  he  was  shown  the  temple, 
with  its  stairs  ever  winding  upward  in  spiral  progression, 
emblematic  of  the  connection  of  the  earth  with  the  interior 
heavens. 

There  was  a  striking  difference  between  this  temple  and 
the  house  destined  for  human  habitation  though  not  yet  in- 
habited; for  the  palm  trees  here  alternated  with  the  images 
of  the  cherubim,  showing  that  this  temple  and  inmost  sanc- 
tuary was  inhabited  by  angelic  beings,  while  the  house, 
which  was  apparently  destined  for  human  habitation,  was 
not  yet  inhabited.  This  inner  temple  had  folding  doors, 
destined  to  be  thrown  open  to  the  widest  possible  extent. 
It  had  also  galleries,  and  fair  prospects,  north,  south,  east, 
and  west.  But  except  the  angel  who  measured  and  surveyed 
the  temple,  no  human  form  was  seen. 

Then  the  prophet  was  brought  to  the  gate  of  the  temple 
that  looked  eastward,  and  the  appearance  of  the  vision  that 
he  had  seen  by  the  river  Chebar  passed  before  him,  the 
many-eyed  cherubim,  the  wheels  instinct  with  life  and  fiery 
flame,  emblematic  of  the  eternal  deific  forces  of  life  and 
motion,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  temple,  and 
the  earth  shined  with  his  glory;  and  it  was  said  "  this  is  the 
law  of  the  house  upon  the  top  of  the  mountain,  the  whole 
limit  round  about  shall  be  most  holy;"  corresponding 
with  what  another  prophet  says — "that  the  Lord's  house- 
shall  be  established  on  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  all 
nations  shall  flow  unto  it." 

The  prophet  was  told  that  this  consecrated  eastern  gate 
should  be  open  on  the  Sabbath  day  and  day  of  the  new 
moon,  but  be  closed  the  six  working  days.  Afterwards  he 
was  brought  agaia  to  this  eastern  gate,  and  saw  waters  issu- 
ing from  under  the  threshold  eastward,  and  these  waters  in- 
creased rapidly  in  volume — from  a  stream  that  would  only 
wet  the  ankle  to  one  above  the  knees,  and  then  it  became  a 
mighty  river  that  could  not  be  passed  over. 


[  59  ] 

The  angel  then  brought  him  to  the  brink  of  this  mighty 
river,  which  the  seer  John  saw  long  after  in  the  isle  of  Pat- 
mos,  and  Ezekiel  saw  as  John  did,  trees  on  either  side  of 
the  river — very  many  trees  on  one  side  and  on  the  other — 
trees  whose  leaf  shall  not  fade,  neither  shall  their  fruit  per- 
ish; and  it  was  said  that  the  reason  why  these  trees  were 
fadeless  was  because  they  were  fed  by  the  water  of  life 
which  issued  out  of  the  sanctuary  where  the  heavenly  splen- 
dors had  shone.  The  Shekinah  had  filled  the  temple  with 
life  and  opened  the  source  of  the  waters  of  life  to  gladden 
the  earth. 

This  vision  has  a  far  wider  signification  and  scope  than 
Ezekiel  probably  realized.  Many  of  the  children  of  the  west 
have  called  the  Jewish  creed  narrow;  but,  like  a  strong  ark 
made  for  stormy  seas,  it  has  floated  where  many  a  proud 
argosy  has  gone  down. 

The  Americas  at  this  time  were  veiled  in  darkness — the 
dominant  Anglo-Saxon  race  had  yet  to  be  born.  Australias 
aud  New  Hollands  were  as  unknown  as  the  geography  of 
Jupiter. 

To  no  glory  of  the  second  temple  reared  upon  the  ruins 
of  the  first  is  this  splendid  vision  applicable. 

Kising  from  the  ruins  of  the  present  social  order,  that 
vision  will  appear  in  all  its  august  beauty. 

It  designates  the  great  social,  governmental  and  religious 
reconstruction  of  the  future,  an  order  of  life  that  shall  com- 
bine in  a  remarkable  manner,  social  and  material  well  being, 
with  spiritual  advancement.  No  human  form  was  seen  in 
the  great  house,  so  triumphantly  decorated  with  its  capitals 
of  palm.  It  was  the  vision  of  the  times  of  the  restoration 
of  all  things  of  which  God  has  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  His 
holy  prophets  since  the  world  began.  It  was  also  blended 
with  a  prophetic  view  of  the  restoration  of  Israel,  of  the 
borders  of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  the  allotted  portion  for 
the  Prince,  the  Shiloh  that  is  to  come. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  planet,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Polar  regions,  is  now  unveiled.  The  hitherto  almost  un- 
known half  of  the  social  sphere,  which  is  divine  woman- 
hood, is  becoming  unveiled. 


[  60  ] 

The  hidden  west,  the  woman  side  of  life,  with  all  its  un- 
reached  capabilities,  has  yet  to  be  made  manifest  ere  the 
scope  of  this  wonderful  vision  can  be  clearly  understood. 
A  dubious  twilight  may  precede  that  bright  day,  but  it  will 
rise  at  last. 

The  dominant  note  of  all  I  have  had  to  say  is  the  true 
position  of  woman  in  God,  or  rather  the  shining  forth  of 
God  through  woman. 

Fully  sanctified,  she  enters  into  a  safe  place  and  can  re- 
trace her  steps  back  to  lost  Paradise,  her  Heavenly  inherit- 
ance, where  she  can  stand  side  by  side  with  man  without 
subjection  and  without  fear. 

I  have  always  felt  that  Christ  was,  in  a  special  sense,  the 
friend  of  woman.  When  she  had  no  other  friend  on  earth, 
when  she  was  even  a  sinner  and  an  outcast,  he  protected 
and  blessed  her.  It  is  even  so  to-day.  He  is  an  eternal 
refuge. 

The  woman  question  is  a  question  of  development,  not  of 
self-assertion. 

Woman  is  what  she  is,  and  she  is  developing  more  and 
more  into  the  ideal  of  divine  womanhood  as  the  divine 
womanhood  is  manifested  through  her.  When  that  is  fully 
manifested,  she  will  come  into  her  place  naturally,  with  a 
divine  power  and  grace. 

Until  then  the  coming  Kingdom  cannot  be  manifested — 
the  brotherhood  cannot  be  fully  manifested  without  the 
divine  harmony  of  the  sexes. 

When  that  is  accomplished,  woman  will  cease  to  be  revo- 
lutionary, because  there  will  be  no  need  of  the  revolutionary 
element,  but  the  revolutionary  element  will  more  and 
more  disturb  nations  and  families  until  this  is  accomplished. 

From  the  mother's  womb,  from  her  bosom  are  the  ele- 
ments of  the  future  world  created,  and  when  motherhood 
becomes  divine,  instead  of  as  it  sometimes  happens  less  than 
human,  the  angels  will  rejoice. 

Then  the  full  orbed  sphere  of  humanity,  equally  balanced 
in  both  its  hemispheres  of  opposite  sexes,  will  sail  harmoni- 
ously through  the  heavenly  blue.  The  wail  that  comes  from 
our  wretched  planet  and  disturbs  the  elemental  harmony 


will  cease,  and  she  will  sing  with  the  morning  stars,  and  all 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  God  will  chant  the  new  bridal 
song. 

It  may  be  said  that  Christ  did  not  fully  declare  this  while 
on  earth.  He  said:  "  I  have  many  things  to  say  unto  you, 
but  ye  cannot  bear  them  yet. "  Perhaps  some  things  were 
left  for  the  bride  to  declare. 

I  feel  more  and  more  persuaded  that  the  germ  of  the  New 
Dispensation  is  a  humble  people, — known,  as  violets  are 
known,  by  their  hidden  fragrance.  These  will  all  know  the 
Lord  from  the  least  even  unto  the  greatest. 

This  is  the  real  substance  of  all  former  ceremonies  and 
church  rituals,  of  whatever  nature,  even  as  the  Gospel  ful- 
filled the  Jewish  law  and  made  it  honorable  while  it  replaced 
it.  It  is  a  natural  outgrowth,  without  conflict  and  without 
schism.  The  true  Ecclesia, — the  church  or  assembly  of  the 
faithful.  Without  woman  as  mother,  this  cannot  be.  Now 
as  never  before  she  is  wakening  to  her  duties,  her  responsi- 
bilities, and  her  privileges. 

SAN  FEANCISCO,  November,  1884. 


